Skip to main content

Full text of "A bible history of baptism"

See other formats 


i  LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS. 

Shelf  ^-^JyJ:Z^ 


UNITED   STATES  OF   AMERICA.   % 


THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER. 


Bible  Hisxory  of  Baptism. 


/ 


SAMUEL  J.  BAIRD,  D.  D. 


"He  shall  baptize  yon  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire."— Matt,  hi,  17. 

"This  is  that  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel:  And  it  shall  come 
to  pass,  in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  upon  all 
flesh."— Acts  ii,  16,  17. 


PIIILADELPHTA: 
JAMES    H.  BAIRD, 

1882. 


-^ 


,^|■8 


W 


,^^ 


Copyright 
SAMUEL   J.  BAIRD, 

1882. 


The  Libra  l 
OF  Congre: 


PREFACE 


n^OT  only  does  the  ordinance  of  baptism  hold  a 
-^  position  of  pre-eminent  honor,  as  being  the  door 
of  entrance  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  visible  church, 
but  it  has  been  distinguished  with  a  place  of  paramount 
importance  and  conspicuity  in  the  transactions  of  the 
two  grandest  occasions  in  the  history  of  that  church, — 
in  sealing  the  covenant  at  Sinai,  by  which  Israel  be- 
came the  church  of  God,  and  the  grace  of  Pentecost, 
by  which  the  doors  of  that  church  were  thrown  open 
to  the  world.  Proportionally  interesting  and  signifi- 
cant is  the  ordinance,  in  itself,  as  symbolizing  the  most 
lofty,  attractive  and  precious  conceptions  of  the  gospel, 
and  unfolding  a  history  of  the  plan  of  God  in  pro- 
portions of  unspeakable  interest,  grandeur  and  glory. 
And  yet,  heretofore,  the  discussion  of  the  subject  has 
been  little  more  than  a  disputation,  alike  uninteresting, 
inconclusive  and  unprofitable,  concerning  the  word 
baptizo. 

The  present  treatise  is  an  attempt  to  lift  the  sub- 
ject out  of  the  low  rut  in  which  it  has  thus  traversed, 
and  to  render  its  investigation  the  means  of  enlighten- 
ing the  minds  and  filling  the  hearts  of  God's  people 
with  those  conceptions,,  at  once  exalted  and  profound, 
and  those  high  hopes  and  bright  anticipations  of  the 
future  which  the  ordinance  was  designed  and  so  hap- 
pily fitted  to  induce  and  stimulate. 

Eighteen  years  ago, — in  a  catechetical  treatise  on 
"The  Church  of  God,  its   Constitution  and   Order,'' 


4  PREFACE. 

from  the  press  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publica- 
tion,— the  author  enunciated  the  essential  principles 
which  are  developed  in  this  volume.  In  1870,  they 
were  further  illustrated  in  a  tract  on  "  The  Bible 
History  of  Baptism/'  which  was  issued  by  the  Pres- 
byterian Committee  of  Publication,  in  Richmond,  Va. 
The  reception  accorded  to  these  treatises  has  encouraged 
me  to  undertake  the  more  elaborate  disquisitions  of 
the  present  work.  The  questions  are  sometimes  such 
as  require  a  critical  study  of  the  inspired  originals  of 
the  holy  Scriptures;  and  occasional  illustrations  are 
drawn  from  classic  and  other  kindred  sources.  It  has 
been  my  study  so  to  conduct  these  investigations  that 
while  they  should  not  be  unworthy  the  attention  of 
scholars,  they  may  be  intelligible  to  readers  who  are 
conversant  with  no  other  than  our  common  English 
tongue,  the  richest  and  noblest  ever  spoken  by  man. 

The  circumstances  and  manner  of  the  introduction 
of  the  rite  of  immersion  into  the  post-apostolic  church 
presented  a  rich  and  inviting  field  of  further  investi- 
gation. But  the  volume  has  already  exceeded  the 
intended  limit;  the  Biblical  question  is  in  itself  com- 
plete, and  its  authority  is  conclusive.  To  it,  there- 
fore, the  present  inquiry  is  confined. 

The  fruit  of  much  and  assiduous  investigation  and 
thoughtful  study  is  now  reverently  dedicated  to  the 
glory  of  the  baptizing  office  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  May 
he  speedily  arise  and  display  it  in  new  and  transcend- 
ent energy;  pouring  upon  his  blood-bought  church  the 
Spirit  of  grace  and  consecration,  of  knowledge  and 
aggressive  zeal,  of  unity  and  power;  baptizing  the 
nations  with  his  Spirit,  and  filling  the  world  with  the 
joy  of  his  salvation  and  the  light  of  his  glory. 

Covington,  Ky.,  Feb.  8,  1882. 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION, Page  15 


Book  I. 

OLD  TESTAMENT   HISTORY. 

Part  I. 

BAPTISM  A  T  SINAI. 

Section  I.  Baptism  originated  in  the  Old  Testament. — It  was  fa- 
miliar to  the  Jews  when  Christ  came.  There  were  "  divers 
baptisms"  imposed  at  Sinai, Page  21 

Section  II.  No  Immersions  in  the  Old  Testament. — None  in  the 
ritual.     None  in  the  figurative  language, 23 

Section  III.  The  Old  Testament  Sacraments. — 1.  Sacrifice.  2. 
Circumcision,     3,  The  Passover.     4.  Baptism, 24 

Section  IV.  The  Baptism  of  Israel  at  Sinai. — Scene  at  the  mount. 
The  covenant  proposed  and  accepted.  A  great  revival.  Bap- 
tism of  the  converts.     The  feast  of  the  covenant,    ....  25 

Section  V.  TJie  Blood  of  Sprinkling. — It  was  a  type  of  Christ's 
atonement, 30 

Section  YI.  The  Living  water. — A  type  of  the  Spirit.  Living 
and  salt  water.  The  river  of  Eden.  That  of  the  Revelation 
and  of  the  prophets.  The  Dead  Sea.  Rain  and  fountains. 
Their  symbolic  functions, 31 

Part  II. 

TTFE  VISIBLE  CHURCH. 

Section  VII.  The  Abrahamic  Covenant. — It  was  the  betrothal, — 
not  the  marriage.  Its  terms  spiritual,  everlasting,  exclusive. 
The  Seed  Christ.  It  adumbrated  the  covenant  of  grace.  No 
salvation  but  on  its  terms, 37 

Section  VIII.  The  Sinai  Covenant. — Its  Conditions.  —  Moses* 
commission.  1.  "If  ye  will  obey."  2.  "And  keep  my  cov- 
enant,"   42 

Section  IX.  The  Sinai  Covenant. — Its  Promises. — 1.  A  peculiar 
treasure.  2.  "  All  the  earth  is  mine."  3.  A  priest  kingdom. 
4.  A  holy  nation.  '5.  Palestine, 45 


6  CONTENTS. 

Section  X.  The  Visible  Church  E^tahlished. — The  Church  de- 
fined. Its  name.  Its  fundamental  law.  Membership.  Fam- 
ily and  eldership.  Ordinances  of  testimony.  The  relation  of 
the  ritual  law, Page  49 

Section  XI.  The  Terms  of  Membership. — Professed  faith  and 
obedience.  The  same  to  Israel  and  Gentiles.  Separating 
the  unworthy, 50 

Section  XII.  Circumcision  and  Baptism. — The  former  seai||^ 
the  Abrahamic  covenant.  The  latter  alone  sealed  the  eccle- 
siastical covenant  of  Sinai, 58 

Part  III. 

ADMINISTERED  BAPTlSiIS=  SPRINKLINGS. 

Section  XIII.  Unclean  Seven  Days. — The  meaning.  Childbirth. 
Issues.     Contact  with  the  dead.    Leprosy.    Characterized  by 

(1)  inward  corruption;  (2)  seven  days  continuance;  (3)  con- 
tagiousness ;  (4)  requiring  sacrifice  and  sprinkling,    ...  60 

Section  XIV. — Baptism  of  a  Healed  Leper. — Seven  sprinklings. 
The  self-washings.     Meaning  of  the  rites, 06 

Section  XV.  Baptism  of  the  Defiled  by  the  Dead. — The  ordi- 
nary seal  of  the  covenant.  The  ashes.  Manner  of  the 
baptism, 68 

Section  XVI.  Baptism  from  Issues. — The  law  seemingly  incon- 
gruous.   The  water  of  nidda, 69 

Section  XVII.  Baptism  of  Proselytes. — Talmudie  traditions. 
Question  between  the  Schools  of  Shammai  and  Hillel.  The 
Levitical  mode  exemplified  in  the  daughters  of  Midian,     76 

Section  XVIII.  Baptism  of  Infants. — The  principle  of  infant 
membership  recognized.  Evidence  of  the  baptism  of  He- 
brew children.     Example  of  the  infant  Jesus, 82 

Section  XIX.  Baptism  of  the  Levites.— Sprinkled  with  "  water 
of  purifying," 85 

Section  XX.  These  all  ivere  one  Baptism.  The  rites  were  essen- 
tially the  same.     Slight  differences  explained, SO 

Section  XXI.  The  Symbol  of  7?am.— Descent  from  heaven. 
Life  and  fruitfulness  imparted.  Testimonies  of  the  prophets. 
Carson's  xioctrine, 88 

Section  XXII.  It  meant,  Life  to  the  Dead.— Men  dead  by  na- 
ture. The  Spirit  shed  down  gives  life  to  soul  and  body.  Je- 
sus at  the  grave  of  Lazarus, 92 

Section  XXIII.    The  Gospel  in  this  Baptism.— { 1 )  The  red  heifer. 

(2)  Without  the  camp.  (3)  Blood  sprinkled,  and  blood  and 
water.  (4)  Seven  times.  (5)  Seven  days'  defilement.  (6) 
The  ashes.     (7)  The  water.     (8)  The-  sprinkling.     (9)  The 


CONTENTS.  7 

third  day  and  the  seventh.  (10)  The  self-washing.   (11)  Things 

defiled  and  sprinkled, Page  95 

Section  XXIV.  These  were  the  "  Divers  Baptisms," — The  argu- 
ment of  Heb.  ix,  8,  9.  The  sprinklings  were  the  theme  of 
Paul's  argument.    They  were  his  "  divers  baptisms,"  .   .  103 

Part  IV. 

RITUAL  SELF-WASIIINGS. 

Section  XXV.  Unclean  until  the  Even. — From  expiatory  rites. 
From  contact  with  the  unclean.    Self-washing, 108 

Section  XXVI.  Grades  of  Self-washing. — 1.  The  hands.  2.  The 
hands  and  feet.  3.  The  clothes.  4.  The  clothes  and  flesh. 
5.  Shaving  the  hair, Ill 

Section  XXVII.  Mode  implied  in  the  meaning. — The  self- 
washings  meant  the  active  putting  off  of  the  sins  of  the 
flesh, 115 

Section  XXVIII.  llie  words  used  to  designate  the  Washings. — 
1.  Shataph.    2.  Kabas.     3.  Riihatz, 116 

Section  XXIX.  Mode  of  Domestic  Ablution. — By  water  poured 
on.  The  patriarchs.  Mode  in  Egypt.  In  the  wilderness. 
Story  of  Susanna.  Purgation  of  a  concealed  murder.  Wash- 
ing the  feet  at  table, 119 

Section  XXX.  Facilities  requisite.  —  The  water  drawn  from 
wells  by  women.  No  vessels  for  immersion.  The  bath  of 
Ulysses, 126 

Section  XXXI.  The  Washings  of  the  Priests. — Symbolism  of  the 
tabernacle.  The  laver.  Priestly  washings.  The  laver  and 
river  of  Ezekiel.     No  immersions  here, 128 

Section  XXXII.  Like  these  ivere  the  Self-ivashings  of  the  People. — 
Designations  and  meaning  the  same.  Immersion  would  have 
been  without  meaning, 134 

Section  XXXIII.  Purifyings  of  things. — One  case  of  immer- 
sion. Minor  defilements  cleansed  by  this  immersion  and  by 
washings.    The  major,  by  sprinkling, 136 

Part  V. 

LATER  TRACES  OF  THE  SPRINKLED  BAPTISMS. 

Section  XXXIV.  Old  Testament  Alhisions. — The  rite  every- 
where, from  Moses  to  Zechariah, 139 

Section  XXXV.  Rabbinic  Traditions. — One  heifer  from  Mo- 
ses to  Ezra.     Eight  thence  to  the  end, 142 

Section  XXXVI.     Festival  of  the  Outpouring  of  Water. — Feast 


8  CONTENTS. 

of  tabernacles.  The  outpouring.  The  festivity.  Its  mean- 
ing,   Page  M3 

Section  XXXVII.  Hellenistic  Greek.  —  Alexander's  favor  to 
the  Jews.  Alexandria.  Hellenistic  Greek.  Its  literature. 
Baptizo.  Dr.  Conant's  definitions.  Baptisma  and  baptis- 
moi, 151 

Section  XXXVIII.  Baptism  of  Naaman.  Tabal=haptizo. — The 
law  of  leprosy.  Office  of  Elijah  and  Elisha.  Naaman  was 
sprinkled  seven  times^  according  to  the  law,  ^ 157 

Section  XXXIX.  "  Baptized  from  the  Dead." — Ecclus.  xxxi, 
30.  The  water  of  separation  here  called  baptism.  "  Bap- 
tized for  the  dead."— 1  Cor.  xv,  29, 1G9 

Section  XL.  Judith's  Baptism. — Story  of  Judith.  Her  baptism. 
Mohammedan  washing  before  prayer, 172 

Section  XLI.  The  Water  of  Separation  in  Philo  and  Josephus. — 
Philo  on  the  subject.     Josephus'  description,    .    ...    .    .175 

Section  XLII.  Imitations  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans. — Diffusive 
influence  of  Israel.  The  stain  of  crime,  and  purgation  for  it, 
novelties  in  Greece.  Purifying  always  by  sprinkled  water. 
Ovid  and  Virgil.     The  Greek  mysteries, 178 

Section  XLIII.  Baptism  in  Egypt  and  among  the  Aztecs. — The 
libation  vase  of  Osor-Ur.     Aztec  infant  baptism,  ....  189 

Section  XLIV.  Levitical  Baptism  in  the  Fathers. — TertuUian 
on  the  idolatrous  imitations.  Other  fathers  on  the  water  of 
separation.     They  recognize  it  as  baptism, 192 

Part  VI. 

STATE  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  ARGUMENT. 

Section  XLV.  Points  established  by  the  foregoing  Evidence. — 
Twenty-one  points  of  evidence  enumerated, 196 


Book  II. 

NEW  TESTAMENT  HISTORY. 


PartVIL 

JNTROnUCTOBY. 

Section  XLVI.  State  of  the  Question. — 1.  Baptism  by  sprink- 
ling,— fifteen  centuries  old, — the  Jewish  Scriptures  full  of 
it, — the  Jewish  mind  molded  by  it.  2.  Immersion, — new, — 
incongruous, — unmeaning.    Carson's  double  symbolism,  201 


CONTENTS.    .  9 

Part  VIII. 

THE  PURIFYING 3  OF  THE  JEWS. 

Section  XLVII.  Accounts  in  the  GospeZs.— Purifying  before 
the  feasts.  The  marriage  in  Cana.  Washings  and  bap- 
tisms,    Page  208 

Sectiok  XLYIII.  Washing  Hands  before  Meals. — Origin  of  tlie 
rite.    The  marriage  feast, 210 

Section  XLIX.  Baptism  on  return  from  Market. — Market  de- 
fined.   Jesus  at  the  Piiarisee's  table, 214 

Section  L.  A  Various  Reading. — Baptizdntai  and  rantizontai. 
Care  taken  in  transcribing  the  New  Testament.  These  two 
readings, ._ 21G 

Section  LI.  Baptisms  of  Utensils  and  Furniture. — Their  proto- 
types in  the  Levitical  purifyings  of  things, 219 

Part  IX. 

JOHN'S  BAPTISM. 

Section  LII.  History  of  John^s  Mission. — The  accounts  of  it. 
John  the  herald  of  the  Angel  of  the  Sinai  covenant,    .    .  221 

Section  LIII.  Israel  at  the  time  of  John^s  Coming. — No  longer 
idolatrous,  but  apostate.  Prophetic  warnings.  They  were 
excommunicate  from  the  covenant, 225 

Section  LIV.  Nature  of  John^s  Baptism. — Elijah  the  champion 
of  the  covenant,  to  the  ten  tribes.  John  the  same  to  the 
Jews.     His  baptism  renewed  the  Sinai  seal, 228 

Section  LV.  Extent  of  John^s  Baptism. — Testimony  of  the  evan- 
gelists.    Other  evidence.     A  great  revival, 232 

Section  LVI.  John  did  not  Immerse. — The  circumstances  forbade 
it.    It  would  have  been  unmeaning, 237 

Section  LVII.  John  sprinkled  with  unmingled  Water.— Why  the 
prophecies  speak  of  water  only.  "  The  kingdom  "  John's 
theme.  Hence,  water  only.  It  was  sprinkled.  Some  may 
have  stood  in  the  water, 241 

♦  V  •  Part  X. 

"""^     CHRIST'S  BAPTISMS  AND  ANOINTING. 

Section  LVIII.  His  Baptism  by  John. — Various  ex])lanations. 
It  was  part  of  his  obedience.  It  sealed  him  Surety  of  the 
covenant,  and  certified  to  him  trium])h  in  his  resurrec- 
tion,  247 

Section   LIX.     His  Anointing. — The  Spirit  given  him,  at  his 


10  CONTENTS. 

birth, — at  his    baptism, — and  at  his  coronation.     Meaning 

and  purpose  of  his  anointing, Page  254 

Section  LX.  *'  The  Baptism  that  1  am  Baptized  with." — Matt. 
XX,  20-22.  The  kingdom  was  to  be  after  tlie  resurrection  ; 
and  upon  condition  of  being  wortliy.  "Tlic  regeneration" 
was  typified  by  the  Levitical  baptisms.  The  baptism  was  his 
resurrection.    Luke  xii,  50, 257^ 

Part  XL 

CHRIST  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER. 

Section  LXI.  The  Kingdom  of  the  Son  of  man. — "  The  kingdom 
of  heaven."  Destined  to  man  at  creation.  Satan's  scheme. 
The  kingdom  in  the  prophets.  John's  proclamation,  Christ's 
triumph  and  coronation, 267 

Section  LXIL  Christ  is  enthroned  as  Baptizer.- — His  commis- 
sion,-— to  purge  the  universe.  Order  of  precedence  in  the 
Godhead.  On  earth,  Jesus  was  "  in  the  Spirit."  On  the 
throne,  the  Spirit  is  in  and  subject  to  him.  **  The  promise 
of  the  Father," • 273 

Section  LXIII.  Note  on  the  Procession  of  the  Spirit. — History  of 
the  filioque  clause.     Objections  to  it, 281 

Section  LXIV.  The  Baptism  of  Fire.— The  Holy  Ghost,  and 
fire,  two  several  things.  Fire  means  wrath.  The  places 
cited  against  this  view.  The  contrasted  language  of  the  evan- 
gelists. Grace  and  wrath  inseparably  connected.  John's 
theme  and  imagery  are  from  Malachi.  Arguments  to  iden- 
tify the  two  baptisms  in  one.  Baptizo.  Mode  of  the  bap- 
tism of  fire, 284 

Section  LXV.  The  Baptism  of  Pentecost. — The  apostles  must 
"  wait  for  the  promise.'.'     The  Spirit  poured  out,  ....  297 

Section  LXVL  Planner  of  tlie  Baptism. — Pnoe — a  breath.  Phe- 
romene, — borne  forward, — impelled.  "  He  breathed  on  them." 
It  was  affusion,  signalizing  the  height  where  Jesus  sits,  .  299 

Section  LXVIL  The  New  Spirit  imparted. — The  Spirit  no  nov- 
elty. Peter's  explanation.  Hitherto,  the  church's  office 
was  conservative.  Now  the  aggressive  Spirit  of  missions 
given, 304 

Section  LXVIII.  The  Tongues  like  as  of  Fire. — Not  "cloven," 
but  "  distributed."  Like  the  flame  of  a  lamp.  The  candle- 
stick.    The  seven  stars.     "Arise!  shine!" 310 

Section  LXIX.  The  Gift  of  other  Tongues. — Signified  the  union 
of  all  people  in  God's  worship.  The  phrasing  of  the  histo- 
rian.    Historv  of  the  sign, 313 


CONTENTS.  11 

Section  LXX.  The  Baptism  of  Repentance. — ^The  firstfruits. 
John's  "baptism  of  repentance."  Jesus  gives  repentance 
and  remission.  His  baptism  unites  to  him  and  the  Father. 
Its  manner.     The  Spirit's  relation  to  it, Page  318 

Section  LXXI.  PauVs  Doctrine  of  this  Baptism. — Titus  iii,  4-7. 
Meaning  of  loutron.  1  Cor.  xii,  12-14.  Eph.  iv,  4-1 G.  Gal. 
iii,  27-29.  Rom.  vi,  2-6.  Col.  ii,  9-11.  The  doctrine  of  these 
places, 323 

Section  LXXII.  Noah  "saved  by  Water.''— 1  Pet.  iii,  17-22. 
Peter  and  Paul.  The  theme, — the  saints  persecuted  with  im- 
punity. Noah  persecuted,  and  saved  by  means  of  the  flood. 
Christ's  people  saved  by  antitype  bax^tism, 333 

Section  LXXIII.  Christ's  Baptizing  Administration. — It  covers 
his  whole  work  on  the  throne.  In  the  end,  triumph  com- 
plete, physical  and  moral.  When  he  shall  have  purged  earth 
and  heaven,  then  will  his  baptizing  office  cease,  ....  338 

Section  LXXIV.  Argument  from  the  Real  to  Ritual  Baptism. — 
The  real  baptism  has  to  do,  not  with  abasement  and  the 
grave,  but  with  exaltation  and  power.  But  immersion  looks 
only  to  the  grave.  It  is  incongruous  to  all  the  phenomena 
of  Pentecost.    Immersed  in  "  the  sound  from  heaven,"  .  .  343 

Part  XII. 

THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT. 

Section  LXXY.  Baptizo  and  the  Resurrection. — Elements  of 
the  Baptist  argument.  Dr.  Conant  on  baptizo.  It  leaves  its 
subjects  in  the  water.  •  Dr.  Ivendrick's  admissions.  A  sec- 
ond meaning  in  baptizo, 347 

Section  LXXYI.  The  Prepositions. — En.  Eis.  Ek.  Apo. 
They  indicate,  not  the  mode,  but  the  place  of  the  bap- 
tisms,   354 

Section  LXXYII.  ''Much  Water  iAere."— Aenon=The  Springs. 
Many  waters.     Why  Jesus  and  John  resorted  to  waters,  .  3G0 

Section  LXXVIII.  ''Buried  with  him  by  Baptism  into  Death." — 
Rom.  vi,  2-7. — "  Buried  with  him  by  the  baptism  into  the 
death."  Analysis  of  the  passage.  Spiritual  baptism  alone 
referred  to.  Immersion  incongruous  to  Paul's  concep- 
tion,   3G4 

Section  LXXIX.  "  Buried  with  him  in  Baptism." — Col.  ii,  9-13. 
The  doctrine  the  same  as  the  preceding.  Union  with  the 
Lord  Jesus  the  controlling  idea.  "  Buried  with  him  in  (or, 
by)  the  baptism."  The  idea  of  immersion  perplexes  the  ex- 
egesis,   371 


12  CONTENTS. 

Section  LXXX.  End  of  the  Baptist  Argument — Baptist  schol- 
ars concede  that  haptizo  does  not  mean,  to  dip,  only.  It  can 
not  then  decide  the  mode.  They  admit  that  it  leaves  its 
subject  in  the  water.  It  knows  then  nothing  of  the  resur- 
rection. The  prepositions  and  waters  of  Enon  do  not  help 
the  cause.  Paul's  burial  "  in  the  baptism,"  does  not  allude 
to  the  ritual  ordinance.  In  all  its  parts,  the  argument 
fails, Page  374 

Part  XIII. 

BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION. 

Section  LXXXI.  Contrary  to  the  whole  Tenor  of  the  Gospel. — 
The  mystery  of  iniquity  early  developed.  The  gospel  church 
viewed  as  the  antitype  of  the  Levitical.  The  Scriptures  are 
not  so.  Treatment  of  baptism  by  the  evangelists.  Paul's 
testimony, 377 

Section  LXXXII.  Born  of  Water  and  of  the  Spirit. — John  iii, 
4-8.  Metaphor  of  water.  "  Water  even  the  Spirit."  John 
had  already  stated  the  way  of  the  new  birth, 384 

Section  LXXXIII.  "  The  Washing  of  Water,  by  the  Word."— 
The  bridal  bath.  No  formula  of  baptism.  "Sanctify  them 
through  thy  truth," 390 

Part  XIV. 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH. 

Section  LXXXIV.  The  Ritual  Law  is  unrepealed. — Christ  so 
left  it.  The  apostles  were  zealous  for  it.  The  council  of  Je- 
rusalem exempted  the  Gentiles  only.  James  and  Paul  unite 
to  show  it  still  in  force.  Paul's  practice.  He  obeyed  the 
law,  but  rei)udiated  its  righteousness.  This  view  alone  har- 
monizes the  history, 393 

Section  LXXXV.  Why  the  Gentiles  were  exempted. — Not  be- 
cause the  law  expired.  But,  unsuited  to  a  world  wide  ex- 
tension. Its  chief  end  accomplished.  What  its  survival  im- 
plied,  406 

Section  LXXXVI.  The  Christian  Passover.— Wine,  and  blood. 
The  passover  a  type  of  Christ's  atonement.  It  is  perpet- 
uated in  the  Supper, 408 

Section  LXXXVII.  The  Hebrew  CJiristian  Church.— The  syn- 
agogue system.  The  sects  of  Pharisees,  Sadducees  and  Naz- 
arenes.  The  number  and  diffusion  of  the  Nazarenes.  The 
Hebrew  church  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  .   .    .  411 


CONTENTS.  13 

Section  LXXXVIII.  The  Gentiles  Graffed  in. — Mixed  churches. 
Gentile  churches.  "  Out  of  Zion  the  law."  The  Gentiles 
graffed  m, Page  418 

Part  XV.    - 

CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM. 

Section  LXXXIX.  History  of  the  Rite. — The  cotemporaneous 
baptisms  of  John  and  Jesus.  Both  were  the  same  Chris- 
tian baptism.  Christ  did  not  institute  baptism,  but  gave  it 
to  the  Gentiles.  Rebaptism  at  Ephesus.  Note  on  rebap- 
tism, 424 

Section  XC.  ^^  Baptizing  them  into  the  Name.'''' — 1.  Into  the 
name.  En;  epi ;  eis.  "Into  Christ."  "Into  the  name  of 
Christ."  2.  "T]ie  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  —  "The  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus," 431 

Section  XCI.  "  He  that  Bclieveth  and  is  Baptized.^^ — It  refers  to 
ritual  baptism  ;  and  is  a  caution  against  trust  in  it.  ■  Faith  is 
the  essential  thing, 437 

Section  XCII.  The  Formula. — Ritualisiic  vicAV.  No  formula 
prescribed  by  Christ,  nor  used  by  the  apostles, 438 

Section  XCIII.  Tlie  Administration  on  Pentecost. — There  was  a 
baptism  with  water.     Dr.  Dale's  objections, 440 

Section  XCIV.  The  meaning  of  this  Baptism. — It  could  but  sym- 
bolize the  baptism  of  the  Spirit.  The  two  formulas  thus 
reconciled, 446 

Section  XCV.  The  Mode  of  this  Baptism. — Immersion  incon- 
gruous and  impossible.  They  were  baptized  in  groups  with 
a  hyssop  bushj 448 

Section  XCVI.  Other  Illustrations. — The  eunuch.  The  apostle 
Paul.  The  house  of  Cornelius.  The  jailer.  None  of  these 
look  to  immersion, 451 

Section  XCVII.  ^'Baptized  into  Moses." — Moses  and  Israel 
were  types.  Dr.  Kendrick  contradicts  the  record.  By  this 
baptism  Israel  were  brought  into  a  new  state  of  faith  and 
obedience, 457 

Part  XVI. 

TUB  FAMILY  AND  THE  CHILDREN. 

Section  XCVIII.  Christ  and  the  Children. — A  retrospect.  Christ's 
attitude  toward  the  lambs.     Peter's  commission.     The  Jews 


14  CONTENTS. 

predominant  in  the  church.  The  Sinai  covenant  recognized 
the  children  and  made  place  for  the  Gentiles,  .  .    .  Page  461 

Section  XCIX.  "  Novj  are  they  Holyy — Unclean,  and  holy. 
Israel  a  holy  nation.  "  The  saints."  The  Baptist  exegesis 
of  the  language, 4CG 

Section  C.  Household  Baptisms. — Not  "infant,"  but  "family 
baptism."  Lydia's  house.  The  jailer  and  all  his.  The 
house  of  Stephanas.  These,  in  the  light  of  fifteen  centuries 
preceding,  and  of  the  everlasting  covenant, 471 

Conclusion. 

Christ's  real  baptism  with  the  Spirit  is  the  criterion  of  all 
baptismal  doctrines  and  rites.  Baptismal  regeneration  tr?ed 
and  rejected.  The  evidence  against  immei-sion  cumulative 
and  overwhelming, 470 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  history  of  the  ritual  ordinances  of  God's  appointment  is  full 
of  painful  interest.  Passing  any  reference  to  the  times  preced- 
ing the  transactions  of  Sinai, — the  institutions  then  given  to  Israel 
constituted  a  system  of  transpiirent  significance,  perfect  in  the  con- 
gruous symmetry  and  simplicity  of  the  parts  and  comprehensive 
fullness  of  the  whole,  as  setting  forth  the  whole  doctrine  of  God 
concerning  man's  sin  and  salvation.  Designed  not  only  for  the  in- 
struction of  Israel,  but  for  a  light  to  the  darkness  of  the  surround- 
ing Gentile  world,  its  truths  were  embodied  in  symbols  which  spake 
to  evei'y  people  of  every  tongue  in  their  own  language.  Copied  in 
imperfect  and  perverted  forms  into  the  rites  of  Gentile  idolatry, — 
although  distorted,  veiled  and  dislocated  from  their  normal  rela- 
tions, they  shed  gleams  of  twilight  into  the  gloom  of  spiritual 
darkness,  and  prepared  the  world  for  the  dawning  of  the  Sun  of 
Piigliteousness,  when  he  rose  upon  the  nations.  To  multitudes  of 
Israel,  those  ordinances  Avcre  efficient  means  of  eminent  grace.  With 
gladness,  they  saw  therein, — as  through  a  glass,  darkly,  it  may  be, 
but  surely, — adumbrations  of  the  salvation,  grace  and  glory  of  the 
Messiah's  kingdom.  And,  if  the  fact  be  considered  that  at  one  of 
the  darkest  crises  in  Israel's  history,  when  the  prophet  cried, — "I, 
even  I  am  left  alone," — God  could  assure  him, — "Yet  have  I  left 
seven  thousand," — we  may  possibly  find  occasion  to  revise  our  pre- 
conceptions concei-ning  the  history  of  the  gospel  in  Israel.  Still, 
undoubtedly  there  were  multitudes  in  every  generation  of  that 
people  to  whom  the  gospel  preached  in  the  ordinances  brought  no 
profit,  for  lack  of  faitli.  In  their  earlier  history,  indifference  and 
neglect,  and  in  the  later,  a  self-righteous  zeal  for  the  mere  outward 
rites  and  forms,  were  equally  fatal.  The  splendor  of  the  ritual,  and 
the  superfluous  vai-iety  and  frequency  of  the  observances,  were  a 
poor  substitute  for  faith  toward  God,  and  rectitude  of  heart  and  life. 
The  result  was  that  wlien  Christ  came,  who  was  the  end  of  all  the 
rites  and  ordinances  of  the  law,  those  who  were  the  most  strict  and 
zealous  in  their  observance  were  his  betrayers  and  murderers. 

When  the  Lord  Jesus  ascended  the  heavens,  assumed  the  throne, 
and  sent  forth  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  it  was  accompanied  by  two 
simple  ordinances,  which  were  eliminated  out  of  those  of  the  Leviti- 


1 6  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

cal  ritual,  by  the  omiss'on  of  the  element  of  sacrifice.  In  them  was 
symbolized  and  set  forth  tlie  wliole  riches  of  that  salvation  which 
was  represented  in  the  more  cumbrous  forms  of  the  Levitical  sys- 
tem. By  the  supper,  was  signified  the  mystery  of  his  atoning  suffer- 
ings, and  of  the  nourishment  of  his  people  by  faith  therein.  By 
baptism,  was  shown  forth  (he  glory  of  his  exaltation,  and  the  sover- 
eignty and  power  with  which  he  sheds  from  his  throne  the  blessings 
of  his  grace.  But  very  soon,  these  ordinances,  so  beautiful  aftd 
instructive  in  their  simplicity,  were  corrupted  through  the  mis- 
conceptions and  ignorance  of  the  teachers  of  the  church.  The 
Mosaic  ritual,  instead  of  being  recognized,  as  Paul  describes  it,  as  a 
pattern  or  similitude  of  the  things  in  the  heavens,  was  regarded  as  a 
type  of  the  New  Testament  church  and  of  the  ordinances  therein  ad- 
ministered. This  one  error  became  the  inevitable  cause  of  corrup- 
tion and  apostasy.  Respecting  the  impending  defection,  Paul  assured 
the  Thessalonians,  that  the  mysteiy  of  iniquity  was  already  at  work; 
and  forewarned  the  elders  of  Ephesus  of  the  coming  of  grievous 
wolves  to  rend  the  flock,  and  of  apostasies  among  themselves, 
through  the  lust  of  an  unhallowed  ambition. 

We  have  not  the  means,  from  the  scanty  and  corrupted  records 
which  remain,  of  the  age  immediately  following  the  apostles,  of 
tracing  the  process  of  defection.  But  when,  at  length,  the  church 
emerges  into  the  light  of  history,  it  is  found  to  have  realized  a  fatal 
transformation.  The  pastors  and  elders  of  the  apostolic  churches, 
from  being  simple  preachers  of  the  word,  have  become  priests  minis- 
tering at  the  altar,  and  offering  better  sacrifices  than  those  made  by 
the  Aaronic  line.  For,  while  the  latter  offered  mere  animals,  and 
the  worshippers  fed  upon  mere  carnal  food,  the  former,  in  the  saci*a- 
ment  of  the  supper,  the  supposed  antitype  of  those  offerings,  were 
believed  to  offer  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  peo- 
ple, in  those  elements,  imagined  themselves  to  receive  and  feed  upon 
that  very  body  and  blood.  So,  too,  while  the  "type  baptisms''  of  the 
ancient  ritual  accomplished  a  mere  purifying  of  the  flesh,  the  bap- 
tism of  water  by  the  hands  of  the  Christian  ministry  was  regarded 
as  the  antitype  of  these,  and  considered  effectual  for  accomplishing  a 
spiritual  regeneration,  a  renewing  of  the  heart  of  the  recipient. 

The  same  error  which  thus  corrupted  the  doctrine  of  the  sacra- 
ments, was  equally  efficient  in  changing  their  forms.  As  they  were 
held  to  be  the  antitypes  of  the  Old  Testament  rites,  if  was  sought  to 
develop  in  them  features  to  correspond  with  all  the  details  of  those 
rites,  and  to  give  them  a  dignity,  a  pomp  and  ceremonial,  propor- 
tioned to  their  relations  as  fulfilling  the  tilings  set  forth  in  the 
splendid  ritual  of  Moses  and  David.  The  rite  of  baptism,  particu- 
larly, was  corrupted  by  alterations  and  additions  which  left  scarcely 


introduction:  17 

any  thing  of  the  primitive  institution,  save  the  name.  The  Lcviti- 
cal  purifyings  were  especially  observed  in  connection  vv^ith  the 
annual  feasts  at  Jerusalem.  In  like  manner,  the  administration  of 
baptism  was  discouraged,  except  in  connection  with  two  of  those 
feasts, — the  passover,  and  the  feast  of  weeks,  or  of  firstfruits, — 
transferred  into  the  Christian  church,  under  the  names  of  Easter, 
and  Pentecost,  or  Whitsunday;  the  latter  being  named  from  the 
white  garments  in  which  the  newly  baptized  were  robed.  The  ad- 
ministration was  connected  with  an  elaborate  system  of  attendant 
observances.  First,  was  a  course  of  fastings,  genuflections,  and 
prayers,  and  the  imposition  of  hands  upon  the  candidate.  Then,  he 
was  divested  of  all  but  a  single  under  garment,  and  facing  the  west, 
the  realm  of  darkness,  was  required,  wi(h  defiant  gesture  of  the 
hand,  to  renounce  Satan  and  all  his  works.  This  was  followed  by 
an  exorcism,  the  minister  breathing  upon  the  candidate,  for  expelling 
Satan,  and  imparting  the  Hol^^  Spirit;  then  the  making  upon  him 
of  the  sign  of  the  cross;  anointing  him  with  oil,  once  before  and 
once  after  the  baptism;  the  administration  of  salt,  milk  and  honey, 
and  three  immersions,  one  at  the  name  of  each  person  of  the  Trinity. 
Such  was  the  connection  in  which  baptism  by  immersion  first  ap- 
pears. For  its  reception,  the  candidate,  of  whateve-r  sex,  was  inva- 
riably divested  of  all  clothing,  and,  after  it,  was  robed  in  a  white 
garment,  emblematic  of  the  spotless  purity  now  attained.  The  rite 
of  baptism  by  bare  sprinkling,  however,  still  survived.  And  the 
question  is  entitled  to  a  critical  attention  which  it  has  not  yet  received, 
whether,  always  or  generally,  the  more  elaborate  rite  consisted  in  a 
submersion  of  the  candidate.  Against  this  supposition,  is  the  practice 
of  the  Abyssinian,  Greek,  Nestorian  and  other  churches  of  the  east. 
In  them,  the  candidate,  in  preparation  for  the  rite,  is  placed,  or  we 
may  say,  immersed,  naked,  in  a  font  of  water,  the  quantity  of  which 
neither  suffices,  nor  is  ii\tended,  to  cover  him.  The  administrator 
then  performs  the  baptism,  wliile  pionouncing  the  formula,  by  thrice 
pouring  water  on  the  candidate,  once  at  the  mention  of  each  name 
of  the  blessed  Godhead.  ••■  To  the  same  effect  is  the  evidence  of 
numerous  remains  of  Christian  art,  which  have  been  transmitted  to 
us  from  the  early  ages.  Among  these  are  several  representations  of 
the  baptism  of  the  Lord  Jesus  by  John;  one,  of  that  of  Constantino 
and  his  wife,  by  Eusebius;  and  others.  The  baptism  of  Constantine 
precisely  corresponds  with  the  description    above  given.       The  cm- 


"=My  aulhorities  are  "A  voyage  to  Abyssinia,  and  travels  in  the  interior  of 
tliiit  country,  executed  under  the  orders  of  the  Hrilisli  government,  in  the  years 
'1809  and  1810,  etc.,  I.y  Henry  Salt,  Esq.,  F.  R.  S.,  etc.,  London,  1814;"  and  tlie 
I»eisonal  testiinonies  of  several  ol  our  missiouaries  to  the  east,  who  have  related 
to  lue  wliat  they  saw. 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

peror  is  seated  naked  in  a  vessel,  which  if  full  would  not  reach  to 
his  waist;  and  the  bishop  is  in  the  act  of  performing  the  baptism  by 
pouring  water  upon  them,  lu  the  representations  of  the  baptism 
of  Jesus,  he  sometimes  appears  waist-deep  in  the  Jordan,  and  some- 
times on  the  land.  But  in  all  cases,  the  rite  is  performed  by  the 
baptist  pouring  water  on  his  head  out  of  a  cup  or  shell.  Such  is,  in 
fact,  the  invariable  mode  represented  in  these  remains  of  anojent  art. 

In  this  connectiju  the  analogy  of  the  forms  of  religions  purify- 
ing prevalent  throughout  the  e-\st  is  worthy  of  special  notice.  The 
Brahmin,  before  taking  his  morning's  meal,  repairs  to  the  Ganges, 
carrying  with  him  a  brazen  vessel.  By  hundreds,  or  by  thousands, 
they  enter  the  stream,  and  while  some  take  up  the  water  in  their 
vessels,  and  pour  it  over  their  persons,  others  plunge  beneath  the 
stream,  for  the  purging  away  of  their  sins.  Then  filling  the  vessels, 
they  repair  to  the  temple,  and  pour  the  water  upon  the  idol,  or  as  a 
libation,  before  it.  The  Parsee,  worshiper  of  the  sun,  goes,  in  the 
morning,  to  river  or  sea,  and  entering  until  the  waves  are  waist 
high,  with  his  face  toward  the  east,  awnits  the  rising  of  the  sun, 
when,  using  his  joined  hands  as  a  dipper,  he  dashes  water  over  his 
person,  and  makes  obeisance  to  his  god.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Mohammedan,  deriving  his  usage  from  the  earlier  Pharisaic  ritual, 
repairs  to  the  mosque,  and  from  the  tank  in  front,  without  entering 
it,  takes  up  water  in  his  hands  with  which  to  bathe  face,  feet  and 
hands,  before  presenting  his  praj^ers. 

By  the  corruptions  in  the  Christian  church,  before  exemplified, 
the  key  of  knowledge  was  taken  away  from  the  people.  The  in- 
structive meaning  of  the  sacraments  was  obscured  and  obliterated,  by 
the  idea  of  their  intrinsic  efficacy  for  renewing  the  heart  and  aton- 
ing for  and  purging  sin.  The  preaching  of  the  word  was  disparaged 
and  ultimately  set  aside;  the  preachers  having  become  propitiating 
priests,  working  regeneration  by  the  baptismal  rite,  and  making 
atonement  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  The  corruption  and  tyranny 
of  the  clergy  of  the  middle  ages,  and  the  ignorance,  slavery  and  spir- 
itual darkness  which  for  centuries  brooded  over  the  people,  were  the 
inevitable  results. 

The  reformation  came,  through  the  recovery  by  Luther. of  the 
golden  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  w^hich  had  so  long  been  bur- 
ied and  lost  under  the  accumulated  mass  of  ritualistic  error.  But 
even  Luther  was  unable  to  shake  off  the  fetters  of  superstition  and 
falsehood  in  which  he  had  been  cradled,  and  to  enjoy  the  full  liberty 
of  the  doctrine  which  he  gave  to  the  awakened  church.  In  the  dogma 
of  consubstantiation,  he  transmitted  to  his  folloAvers  the  ver}'^  error 
which  had  corrupted  the  church  for  more  than  a  thousand  years. 
And  the  result  in  the  churches  of  his  confession  has  added  another 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

to  the  already  abundant  evidence  of  the  ever  active  and  irrecon- 
cilable antagonism  which  oxists  between  the  (heoi-y  of  sacramental 
grace,  and  the  doctrine, — criterion  of  a  standing  or  falling  church, — 
of  justification  by  free  grace  through  faith. 

Our  space  does  not  admit  of  a  critical  tracing  of  the  history  of 
the  sacramental  question  in  the  churches  of  the  reformation.  On  the 
one  hand,  ritualists  of  every  grade,  misled  by  the  erring  primitive 
church,  and  attributing  to  the  sacraments  a  saving  virtue  intrinsic 
in  them,  render  indeed  high  but  mistaken  honor  to  the  sacred  rites; 
but  fail  to  enjoy  them  in  their  true  intent  and  office,  or  to  view  and 
honor  them  in  their  proper  character.  On  the  other  hand,  our  im- 
niersionist  brethren,  misguided  respecting  the  form  of  baptism,  by 
the  same  erring  example,  and  thus  lost  to  the  true  and  comprehensive 
meaning  of  the  ordinance,  have  failed  to  apprehend  the  instruction 
which  it  was  designed  to  impart,  and  to  enjoy  the  abundant  edifying 
which  it  was  adapted  to  minister;  and,  instead,  have  found  it  a  potent 
agent  of  separation,  ajid  an  efficient  temptation  to  the  indulgence  of 
a  disproportionate  zeal  on  behalf  of  mere  oulwai'd  rites  amd  forms. 

Nor  do  those  who  have  escnped  these  errors  always  seem  to  ap- 
preciate the  sacraments,  in  their  true  design  and  character,  as  ever 
active  and  efficient  witnesses,  testifying  to  the  gospel,  through  sym- 
bols as  intelligible  and  impressive  as  the  most  eloquentspeech.  The 
beauty  and  rich  significance  of  the  supper  have,  indeed,  been  in  a 
measure  apprehended,  and  made  available  in  some  just  proportion, 
to  the  instruction  and  edifying  of  God's  people.  But  baptism  has 
not  held  the  place,  in  the  ministrations  of  the  sanctuary  and  the 
mind  of  the  chui-ch,  which  is  due  to  its  office  and  design,  to  the  rich- 
ness of  meaning  of  its  forms,  and  to  the  sublime  conceptions  and  the 
lofty  fispirations  and  hopes  which  it  is  so  wonderfully  adapted  to 
create  and  cherish.  One  efficient  cause  of  this,  undoubtedly,  is,  the 
reaction  induced  by  the  aggressive  zeal  of  immersionists,  and  the 
exercise  of  a  false  charity  toward  their  erroneous  sentiments;  as 
though  the  charity  of  the  gospel,  as  towai-d  our  brethren,  consisted 
in  an  acceptance  of  their  errors  as  equivalents  to  the  truths  of  God. 
While  they  havejiistly  nnd  irrefragably  maintsiined  that  nothing  can 
be  Christian  bnptism  which  lias  not  at  once  the  form  and  the  moan- 
ing ordained  by  Christ,  we  have  been  weakly  disposed  to  imagine 
ourselves  patterns  of  charity,  in  admitting  the  validity  of  immer- 
sion, while  denying  it  to  be  the  forrri  or  to  have  the  meaning  which 
Christ  ordained.  As  if  such  an  ordinance,  from  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church,  could  have.in  it  any  thing  indifferent,  or  subject  to  our 
discretion,  whether  in  doctrine  or  mode!  The  immediate  and  inevit- 
able result  is,  a  low  estimate  of  the  ordinance  itself;  indifference  alike 
to  its  form  and  m^iauing,  and  lo  the  place  it  was  designed  to  fill,  and 


20  INTR  OD  UCTION. 

tlie  offices  which  it.  was  to  perform,  in  the  economy  of  grace.  As  a 
mere  door  of  entrance  into  the  fold  of  the  church,  it  is  administered 
and  received;  with  too  little  regard  to  its  beautiful  and  comprehen- 
sive symbolism;  and,  once  performed,  it  is  almost  lost  sight  of  in  the 
instructions  of  the  pulpit,  and  meditations  of  the  people.  Should  this 
representation  suggest  a  doubt,  let  the  reader  reflect  how  often,  in 
the  ordinary  ministrations  of  the  sanctuai-y,  he  has  heard  the  sig- 
nificance of  baptism  dwelt  upon,  or  even  alluded  to,  for  illustrating 
the  great  truths  of  the  gospel,  on  any  occasion  except  that  of  the 
administration  of  the  rite;  and  how  seldom,  even  then,  the  richness 
of  its  symbolic  import  is  unfolded, — its  relations  to  Christ's  exalta- 
tion and  throne,  and  to  all  the  functions  of  his  scepter;  the  mean- 
ing of  the  element  of  water,  and  of  the  mode  of  sprinkling;  and 
the  office  of  the  ordinance,  as  a  symbol  of  the  Spirit's  renewing 
grace,  and  a  prophecy  and  seal  to  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 
As  the  initial  seal  of  the  covenant,  it  is  discussed  and  insisted 
upon.  But  of  these,  its  intrinsic  and  most  interesting  character- 
istics, but  little  is  heard.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  privilege 
of  its  reception  is  so  little  appreciated,  and  its  appropriation  by 
parents  on  behalf  of  their  children,  so  often  neglected. 

The  recent  researches  of  Drs.  Conant  and  Dale  have  exhausted 
the  philological  argument  as  concerning  hoptizo.  The  former,  rep- 
resenting the  American  (Baptist)  Bible  Union,  and  the  latter,  from 
the  opposite  standpoint,  have  come  to  conclusions  which,  to  all  the 
practical  purposes  of  the  discussion,  are  identical  and  final.  Essen- 
tially, they  agree  (1)  that  baptizo  never  means,  to  dip,  that  is,  to  put 
into  the  water  and  take  out  again;  but,  primarily,  to  put  into  or 
under  the  water, — to  bring  into  a  state  of  niersion,  or  intusposition; 
(2)  that  it  also  means  to  bring  into  a  new  "state  or  condition,  by  the 
exercise  of  a  pervasive  control;  as  one  who  is  intoxicated  is  said  to 
be  baptized  with  wiiie.  Tlie  former  of  these  meanings  is  all  that 
remains  to  the  Baptist  argument  from  the  word.  The  latter  is  all 
that  is  desired  by  those  who  repudiate  immersion.  Tlie  philological 
discussion  being  thus  brought  to  a  practical  termination,  the  occa- 
sion seems  opportune  for  inviting  attention  to  the  real  issues  in- 
volved in  the  question  respecting  the  form  of  the  ordinance;  and  to 
the  various  and  abundant  testimonies  of  the  Scriptures,  as  to  its 
origin  and  office,  its  mode  and  meaning,  its  history  and  associations. 

In  the  same  line  of  investigation,  it  is  tlie  expectation  of  the 
writer,  should  time  and  opportunity  concur,  to  offer  to  the  Christian 
public,  at  some  future  day,  a  treatise,  similar  in  plan  to  that  now 
presented,  on  the  ordinances  and  church  of  God,  liistorically  trnced 
from  the  apostasy,  and  the  renewal  of  the  covenant  in  Eden,  to  the 
close  of  the  sacred  volume. 


BIBLE  HISTORY  OF  BAPTISM, 


Book  I. 
OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY. 


A 


Part  I. 

BAPTISM  AT  SINAI. 

Section  I. — Baptism  Originated  in  the  Old  Testament. 
T  the  time  of  Christ's  coming,  baptism  was  a  rite  already 


familiar  to  the  Jews.  The  evangelists  testify  of  them 
that,  ''  when  they  come  from  the  market,  except  they  hap- 
tize  (ean  me  haptisontai)  they  eat  not.  And  many  other 
things  there  be  which  they  have  received  to  hold,  as  the 
baptisms  (haptismous)  of  cups  and  pots  and  brazen  vessels 
and  tables." — Mark  vii,  3,  4.  On  account  of  this  rule  of 
tradition,  a  Pharisee  at  whose  table  Jesus  was  a  guest 
*'  marveled  that  he  had  not  first  baptized  (ebaptisthe)  before 
dinner." — Luke  xi,  38.  Hence,  when  John  came,  a  priest, 
baptizing,  there  was  no  question  raised  as  to  the  origin,  na- 
ture, form,  or  divine  authority  of  the  ordinance  which  he 
administered.  The  Pharisees,  in  their  challenge  of  him, 
confine  themselves  to  the  single  demand,  by  what  author- 
ity he  ventured  to  require  Israel  to  come  to  his  baptism, 
since  he  confessed  that  he  was  neither  Christ  nor  Elias 
nor  that  prophet.  (John  i,  25.)  Their  familiarity  with 
the  rite  forbade  any  (piestion  concerning  it.  Had  we  no 
further  light  on  tlie  subject,  we  might  suppose  that  this  ordi- 


22  BAPTISM  AT  SL\AI.  [Paut  I. 

nauce  had  no  better  source  than  the  unauthorized  inven- 
tions of  Jewish  tradition.  But  the  Apostle  Paul,*  an  He- 
brew of  the  Hebrews,  taught  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  and 
versed  in  all  questions  of  the  law,  excludes  such  an  idea. 
He  declares  that  in  the  first  tabernacle  "  were  offered  both 
gifts  and  sacrifices  that  could  not  make  him  that  did  the 
service  perfect  as  pertaining  to  the  conscience ;  wdiich  stood 
only  in  meats  and  drinks  and  (diaphorois  baptismois)  divers 
baijtisms — carnal  ordinances  imposed  on  them  until  the 
time  of  reformation." — Heb.  ix,  9,  10.  The  conjunction 
*'  and"  ("  divers  baptisms  and  carnal  ordinances")  is  want- 
ing in  the  best  Greek  manuscripts ;  is  rejected  by  the  crit- 
ical editors,  and  is  undoubtedly  spurious.  The  phrase 
"  carnal  ordinances"  is  not  an  additional  item  in  the  enu- 
meration, but  a  comprehensive  description  of'  "  the  meats 
and  drinks  and  divers  baptisms  "  of  the  laW' .  Paul  thus 
speaks  of  them  by  way  of  contrast  with  the  spiritual  grace 
and  righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  A  critical  examina- 
tion of  this  passage  will  be  made  hereafter.  For  the  pres- 
ent, we  note  two  points  as  attested  by  the  apostle : 

1.  Among  the  Levitical  ordinances  there  were  not  one 
but  divers  baptisms. 

2.  These  were  not  merely  allowable  rites,  but  were  *'  im- 
posed "  on  Israel  as  part  of  the  institutions  ordained  of  God 
at  Sinai. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add  that  they  were  baptisms  of 
persons,  and  not  of  things.  They  w-ere  rites  w^hich  were  de- 
signed to  purify  the  flesh  of  the  worshiper,     (vs.  9,  13,  14.) 

These  baptisms  w^ere,  therefore,  well  known  to  Israel, 
from  the  days  of  Moses.  This  explains  the  fact  that,  in 
the  New  Testament,  we  find  no  instruction  as  to  the  form 
of  the  ordinance.  It  was  an  ancient  rite,  described  in  the 
books  of  Moses  and  familiar  to  the  Jews  when  Christ  came. 
No  description,  therefore,  was  requisite.     We  are  then  to 

*  I  assume  what  I  believe  to  be  demonstrable,  that  Paul  w^as 
the  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 


Sec.  11.]  A'O  IMMERSION  THERE.  "  23 

look  to  the  Old  Testament  to  ascertaiu  the  form  and  man- 
Der  of  baptism. 

Section  II. — iVb  Immersions  in  the  Old  Testament. 

Says  Dr.  Carson :  ' '  We  deny  that  the  phrase  '  divers 
baptisms '  includes  the  sprinklings.  The  phrase  alludes  to 
the  immersion  of  the  different  things  that  by  the  law  were 
to  be  immersed."'^  Had  this  learned  writer  pointed  out  the 
things  that  were  to  be  immersed,  and  the  places  in  the  law 
where  this  was  required,  it  \vould  have  saved  us  some 
trouble.  In  default  of  such  information,  our  first  inquiry 
in  turning  to  the  Old  Testament  will  be  for  that  form  of 
observance.  We  take  up  the  books  of  Moses,  and  exam- 
ine his  instructions  as  to  all  the  prominent  institutions  of 
divine  service.  But  among  these  we  find  no  immersion  of 
the  person.  We  enter  into  minuter  detail,  and  study  every 
rule  and  prescription  of  the  entire  system  as  enjoined  on 
priests,  Levites,  and  people,  respectively.  But  still  there 
is  no  trace  of  an  ordinance  for  the  immersion  of  the  person 
or  any  part  of  it.  We  extend  our  field  of  inquiry,  and 
search  the  entire  volume  of  the  Old  Testament.  But  the 
result  remains  the  same.  From  the  first  chapter  of  Gen- 
esis to  the  last  of  Malachi,  there  is  not  to  be  found  a  rec- 
ord nor  an  intimation  of  such  an  ordinance  imposed  on  Is- 
rael or  observed  by  them  at  any  time.  Not  only  is  this 
true  as  to  baptismal  immersion  performed  by  an  official 
administrator  upon  a  recipient  subject.  It  is  equally 
true  as  to  any  conceivable  form  or  mode  of  immersion, 
self-performed  or  administered.  There  is  no  trace  of  it. 
But  here  is  Paul's  testimony  that  there  were  ''divers  bap- 
tisms imposed."  By  baptisms,  then,  Paul  certainly  did  not 
mean  immersions. 

The  impregnable  position  thus  reached  is  further  forti- 
fied by  the  fact  that,  in  all  the  variety  and  exuberance  of 

■"■•■"Carson  on  Baptism"  (published  by  C.  C.  P.  Crosby: 
New  York,  1832),  p.  117. 


24  *"  BAPTISM  AT  SINAI.  [Paut  I. 

figurative  language  used  in  the  Bible  to  illustrate  the 
method  of  God's  grace,  no  recourse  is  ever  had  to  the  fig- 
ure of  immersion.  All  agree  that  the  sacraments  are  sig- 
nificant ordinances.  If,  then,  the  significance  of  baptism 
at  all  depends  on  the  immersion  of  the  person  in  water,  we 
would  justly  expect  to  find  frequent  use  of  the  figure  of 
immersion,  as  representing  the  spiritual  realities  of  which 
baptism  is  the  symbol.  But  we  search  the  Scriptures  in 
vain  for  that  figure  so  employed.  It  never  once  occurs. 

Section  III. — Tlie  Old  Testament  Sacraments. 

As  there  are  no  immersions  in  the  Old  Testament, 
we  must  look  for  the  divers  baptisms  under  some  other 
form.  Assuming  that  in  this  rite  there  must  be  a  sacra- 
mental use  of  water,  we  will  first  examine  the  ancient  sac- 
raments. On  a  careful  analysis  of  the  ordinances  compre- 
hended in  the  Levitical  system,  we  find  among  them  four 
which  strictly  conform  to  the  definition  of  a  sacrament,  and 
which  are  the  only  sacraments  described  or  referred  to  in 
the  Old  Testament. 

1.  Sacrifice. — The  first  of  these  in  origin  and  prominence 
was  sacrifice.  Originating  in  Eden,  and  incorporated  in 
the  Levitical  system,  it  had  all  the  characteristics  of  a  sac- 
rament. In  it  the  life  blood  of  clean  animals  was  shed  and 
sprinkled,  and  their  bodies  burned  upon  the  altar.  Thus 
were  represented  the  shedding  of  Christ's  blood,  and  his 
ofl^eriug  of  atonement  to  the  justice  of  God.  But  here  is  no 
water.     It  is  not  the  baptism  for  which  Ave  seek. 

2.  Circumcision. — The  second  of  the  Old  Testament  sac- 
raments was  circumcision,  whereby  God  sealed  to  Abra- 
ham and  his  seed  the  covenant  of  blessings  to  them  and 
all  nations  through  the  blood  of  the  promised  Seed.  Here, 
again,  no  one  will  pretend  to  identify  the  ordinance  with 
the  baptisms  of  Paul. 

3.  The  Passover. — The  third  of  the  Old  Testament  sac- 
raments,  the  first  of  the  Levitical  dispensation,  was  the 


Skc.  IV.]  BAPTISM  OF  ISRAEL.  25 

feast  of  the  passover.  In  it,  the  paschal  lamb  was  slaiu, 
its  blood  sprinkled  on  the  lintels  and  door  posts  of  the 
houses,  and  the  flesh  roasted  and  eaten  with  unleavened 
bread  and  bitter  herbs.  At  Sinai,  this  ordinance  was  mod- 
ified by  requiring  the  feast  to  be  observed  at  the  sanctuary, 
the  blood  being  sprinkled  on  the  altar,  and  the  fat  burned 
thereon.  And,  to  the  other  elements  appointed  in  Egypt, 
the  general  provisions  of  the  Mosaic  law  added  wine.  All 
peace  offerings,  free  will  offerings,  and  offerings  at  the  sol- 
emn feasts,  of  which  the  passover  was  one,  Avere  to  be  ac- 
companied with  Avine,  and  were  eaten  by  the  offerers,  ex- 
cept certain  parts,  that  were  burned  on  the  altar.  (See 
Num.  XV,  5,  7,  10;  xxviii,  7,  14.)  This  ordinance,  elim- 
inated of  its  sacrificial  elements,  is  perpetuated  in  the 
Lord's  supper.  In  it  was  no  water.  It  was 'not  the  rite 
for  which  we  seek. 

4.  Bapthm. — There  remains  but  one  more  of  the  Mo- 
saic sacraments. .  It  was  instituted  at  Sinai.  In  it,  water 
was  essential,  and  by  it  was  symbolized  the  renewing  agency 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  was  "a  purification' for  sin,"  an 
initiatory  ordinance,  by  which  remission  of  sins  and  admis- 
sion to  the  benefits  of  the  covenant  were  signified  and  sealed 
to  the  faith  of  the  recipients.  It  occupied,  under  the  Old 
Testament  economy,  the  very  position,  and  had  the  signifi- 
cance, which  belong  to  Christian  baptism  under  the  New. 
Moreover,  it  appears  under  several  modifications,  and  is 
thus  conformed  to  Paul's  designation  of  "  divers  baptisms," 
whilst  these,  in  their  circumstantial  variations,,  were  essen- 
tially one  and  the  same  ordinance. 

Section  IV. — The  Baptism  of  Israel  at  Sinai, 

The  occasion  of  the  first  recorded  administration  of  this 
rite  was  the  reception  of  Israel  into  covenant  with  God  at 
Sinai.  For  more  than  two  hundred  years  they  had  dwelt 
in  Egypt,  and  for  a  large  part  of  the  time  had  been  bond- 
men there.     The  history  of  their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness 


26  BAPTISM  AT  SINAI.  [Part  T. 

shows  tliat  uot  only  was  their  manliood  debased  by  the 
bond;^ge,  but  their  souls  had  been  corrupted  by  the  idola- 
tries of  the  Egyptians  (Josh,  xxiv,  14;  Ezek.  xx,  7),  and 
they  had  foi'gotten  the  covenant  and  forsaken  the  God  of 
their  fathers.  They  w^ere  apostate,  and,  in  Scriptural  lan- 
guage, unclean. 

But  now  the  fullness  of  time  had  come,  w^hen  the  prom- 
ises made  to  the  fathers  must  be  fulfilled.  Leaving  the 
nations  to  walk  after  their  own  ways,  God  was  about  to 
erect  to  himself  a  visible  throne  and  kingdom  among  men, 
to  be  a  witness  for  him  against  the  apostasy  of  the  race. 
He  was  about  to  arouse  Israel  from  her  debasement  and 
slavery,  to  establish  with  her  his  covenant,  and  to  organize 
and  ordain  her  his  peculiar  j)eople — his  Church. 

Proportioned  to  the  importance  of  such  an  occasion  was 
the  grandeur  of  the  scene  and  the  gravity  of  the  transac- 
tions. Of  them  we  have  two  accounts,  one  from  the  pen 
of  Moses  (Ex.  xx-xxiv),  and  the  other  from  the  Apostle 
Paul,  in  exposition  of  his  statement  as  to  the  divers  baptisms. 
(Heb.  ix,  18-20.)  As  to  these  accounts,  two  or  three  points 
of  explanation  are  necessary.  (1)  The  two  words,  "cove- 
nant" and  "testament,"  represent  but  one  in  the  originals  in 
these  places, -of  which  "covenant"  is  the  literal  meaning. 
(2)  Paul  mentions  water  (Heb.  ix,  19),  of  which  INIoses 
does  not  speak.  The  fact  is  significant,  as  the  apostle  is 
in  the  act  of  illustrating  the  "  divers  baptisms,"  of  which 
he  had  just  before  spoken.  (3)  The  word  "  oxen,"  in  our 
translation  j^Ex.  xxiv,  5),  should  be  "bulls."  Oxen  -were 
not  lawful  for  sacrifice.  Yearling  animals  seem  to  have  been 
preferred.  Says  Micah,  "  Shall  I  come  before  the  Lord  with 
burnt-offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old?" — Micah  vi,  6. 
Hence  Paul  indiflTerently  calls  them  bulls  and  calves.  The 
goats  of  which  he  speaks  were  no  doubt  among  the  burnt- 
ofierings  of  Moses's  narrative.  Both  "small  and  great  cattle" 
seem  to  have  been  offered  on  all  great  national  solemnities. 

The  redeemed  tribes  came  to  Sinai  in  the  third  month 


Sec.  IV.]  BAPTISM  OF  ISRAEL.  27 

after  the  exodus.  Moses  was  called  up  into  the  mount 
and  commanded  to  propose  to  them  the  covenant  of  God. 
It  was  in  these  terms:  "If  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed, 
and  keep  my  covenant,  then  ye  shall  be  a  peculiar  treasure 
unto  me  above  all  people,  for  all  the  earth  is  mine,  and  ye 
shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  nation." — 
Ex.  xix,  3-6.  This  proposal  the  people,  with  one  voice, 
accepted.  God  then  commanded  Moses :  ' '  Sanctify  the 
people  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  let  them  wash  their 
clothes  and  be  ready  against  the  third  day ;  for  the  third 
day  the  Lord  will  come  down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people 
upon  Mount  Sinai." — Vs.  10,  11.  On  the  third  day,  in 
the  morning,  there  were  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  a 
thick  cloud  upon  the  mount,  and  the  voice  of  the  trumpet 
exceeding  loud,  so  that  all  the  j^eople  trembled.  And 
Mount  Sinai  w^as  altogether  on  a  smoke,  because  the  Lord 
descended  upon  it  in  fire,  and  the  smoke  thereof  ascended 
as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the  whole  mount  quaked 
greatly.  And  when  the  voice  of  the  trumpet  sounded 
long,  and  waxed  louder  and  louder,  Moses  spake,  and  God 
answered  him  by  a  voice.  And  the  Lord  came  down  upon 
the  top  of  the  mount ;  and  the  Lord  called  Moses  up  to 
the  top  of  the  mount,  and  Moses  went  up. 

In  the  midst  of  this  tremendous  scene,  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  fill  the  people  with  awe,  and  to  deter  them  from 
the  thouglit  of  a  profane  approach,  Moses  was  nevertheless 
charged  to  go  down  and  warn  the  people,  and  set  bounds 
around  the  mountain,  lest  they  should  break  through  unto 
the  Lord  to  gaze,  and  many  of  them  perish.  After  such 
means,  used  to  impress  Israel  with  a  profound  sense  of 
God's  majesty  and  their  infinite  estrangement  from  him, 
his  voice  was  heard,  uttering  in  their  ears  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, prefaced  with  the  announcement  of  himself 
as  their  God  and  Redeemer.  (Compare  Deut.  iv,  7-13.) 
At  the  entreaty  of  the  people,  the  terribleness  of  God's 
audil)lc  voice  was  withdrawn,  and  Moses  was  sent  to  tell 


28  BAPTISM  A  T  SINAI.  [Part  I. 

them  the  words  of  the  Lord  and  his  judgments.  The 
people  again  unanimously  declared,  "All  the  words  which 
the  Lord  hath  said,  will  we  do." — Ex.  xxiv,  3. 

In  this  sublime  transaction  we  have  all  the  scenes  and 
circumstances  of  a  mighty  revival  of  true  religion.  It  is 
a  vast  camp-meeting,  in  which  God  himself  is  the  preacher, 
speaking  in  men's  ears  with  an  audible  voice  from  the  top 
of  Sinai,  and  alternately  proclaiming  the  law  of  righteous- 
ness and  the  gospel  of  grace,  calling  Israel  from  their 
idolatries  and  sins  to  return  unto  him,  and  offering  him- 
self as  not  only  the  God  of  their  fathers,  but  their  own 
Deliverer  already  from  the  Egyptian  bondage,  and  ready 
to  be  their  God  and  portion — to  give  them  at  once  the 
earthly  Canaan,  and  to  make  it  a  pledge  of  their  ulti- 
mate endowment  with  the  heavenly.  The  people  had  pro- 
fessed with  one  accord  to  turn  to  God,  and  pledged  them- 
selves, emphatically  and  repeatedly,  to  take  him  as  their 
God,  to  walk  in  his  statutes  and  do  his  will,  to  be  his 
people. 

It  is  true  that,  to  many,  the  gospel  then  preached  was 
of  no  profit,  for  lack  of  faith  ;  whose  carcasses  therefore  fell 
in  the  wilderness.  (Heb.  iii,  17-19 ;  iv,  2.)  But  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  assembly  at  Sinai  were 
children  and  generous  youth,  who  had  not  yet  been  besotted 
by  the  Egyptian  bondage.  To  them  that  day,  which  was 
known  in  their  after  history  as  "  the  day  of  the  assembly" 
(Dent.  X,  4;  xviii,  16),  was  the  beginning  of  days.  Its 
sublime  scenes  became  in  them  the  spring  of  a  living  faith. 
With  honest  hearts  they  laid  hold  of  the  covenant,  and 
took  the  God  of  the  patriarchs  for  their  God.  Soon  after, 
the  promise  of  Canaan,  forfeited  by  their  rebellious  fathers, 
was  transferred  to  them.  (Num.  xiv,  28-34.)  Trained 
and  disciplined  by  the  forty  years'  wandering,  it  was  they 
who  became,  through  faith,  the  irresistible  host  of  God,  the 
heroic  conquerors  and  possessors  of  the  land  of  joromise. 
Centuries  afterward,  God  testified  of  them  that  they  pleased 


Sec.  IV.]  BAPTISM  OF  ISRAEL.  29 

him:  "I  remember  thee,  the  kiudness  of  thy  youth,  the 
love  of  thine  espousals,  when  thou  weutest  after  me  in  the 
wilderness,  in  a  land  that  was  not  sowy.  Israel  was  holi- 
ness to  the  Lord,  and  the  firstfruits  of  his  increase." — Jer. 
ii,  2,  3.  Until  the  day  of  Pentecost,  no  day  so  memora- 
Dle,  no  work  of  grace  so  mighty,  is  recorded  in  the  history 
of  God's  dealings  with  men  as  that  of  the  assembly  at 
Sinai. 

And  as  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  converts  were  bap- 
tized upon  their  profession  of  faith,  so  was  it  now.  Moses 
appointed  the  next  day  for  a  solemn  ratifying  of  the 
transaction.  He  wrote  in  a  book  the  words  of  the  Lord's 
covenant,  the  Ten  Commandments;  and  in  the  morning, 
at  the  foot  of  the  mount,  built  an  altar  of  twelve  stones, 
according  to  the  twelve  tribes.  On  it  young  men  designated 
by  him  offered  burnt-offerings  and  sacrificed  peace-offerings 
of  young  bulls.  Moses  took  half  the  blood  and  sprinkled 
it  on  the  altar.  Half  of  it  he  kept  in  basins.  He  then 
read  the  covenant  from  the  book,  in  the  audience  of  all  the 
people,  who  again  accepted  it,  saying,  ''All  that  the  Lord 
hath  said  will  we  do,  and  be  obedient."  Moses  thereupon 
took  the  blood  that  was  in  the  basins,  with  water  and 
scarlet  wool  and  hyssop,  and  sprinkled  both  the  book  and 
all  the  people,  saying,  "  Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant 
which  the  Lord  hath  made  with  you  concerning  all  these 
words." — Ex.  xxiv,  8^  compared  with  Heb.  ix,  19,  20. 

In  the  morning  Moses  had  already,  by  divine  com- 
mand, assembled  Aaron,  Ifadab  and  Abihu,  and  seventy 
of  the  elders  of  Israel.  And  no  sooner  was  the  covenant 
finally  accepted  and  sealed  with  the  baptismal  rite,  than 
these  all  went  up  into  the  mount,  and  there  celebrated  the 
feast  of  the  covenant.  "They'  saw  the  God  of  Israel ; 
and  there  was  under  his  feet,  as  it  were,  a  paved  work  of 
a  sapphire  stone,  and  as  it  were  the  body  of  heaven  in 
his  clearness.  And  upon  the  nobles  of  Israel,  he  laid  not 
his  hand.     Also,  they  saw  the  God  of  Israel,  and  did  eat 


30  BAPTISM  AT  SINAI.  [Part  I. 

and  drink." — Ex.  xxiv,  1,  9-11.  So  intimate,  privileged, 
and  spiritual  was  the  relation  which  the  covenant  estab- 
lished between  Israel  and  God. 

Thus  was  closed  this  sublime  transaction,  ever  memora- 
ble in  the  history  of  man  and  of  the  church  of  Christ,  in 
Avhich  the  invisible  God  condescended  to  clothe  himself  in 
the  majesty  of  visible  glory,  to  hold  audible  converse  with 
men,  to  enter  into  the  bonds  of  a  public  and  perpetual 
covenant  with  them,  and  to  erect  them  into  a  kingdom, 
on  the  throne  of  which  his  presence  was  revealed  in  the 
Shechinah  of  glory. 

Such  were  the  occasion  and  manner  of  the  first  insti- 
tution and  observance  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  In 
its  attendant  scenes  and  circumstances,  the  most  august  of 
all  God's  displays  of  his  majesty  and  grace  to  man ;  and 
in  its  occasion  and  nature,  paramount  in  importance,  and 
lying  at  the  foundation  of  the  entire  administration  of 
grace  through  Christ.  It  was  the  establishing  of  the  vis- 
ible church. 

Section  V. — Tlie  Blood  of  Sprinkling. 

In  all  the  Sinai  transactions,  Moses  stood  as  the  pre-emi- 
nent type  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  and  the  rites  admin- 
istered by  him  were  figures  of  the  heavenly  realities  of 
Christ's  sacrifice  and  salvation.  This  is  fully  certified  by 
Paul,  throughout  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  especially 
in  the  illustration  which  he  gives  of  his  assertion  con- 
cerning the  divers  baptisms  irrfposed  on  Israel.  See  Heb. 
ix,  9-14,  19-28.  In  these  places,  it  distinctly  appears 
that  the  blood  of  the  Sinai  baptism  was  typical  of  the 
atonement  of  Christ.  Not  only  in  this,  but  in  all  the 
Levitical  baptisms,  as  will  hereafter  appear,  blood  was 
necessary  to  the  rite.  In  fact,  it  was  an  essential  element 
in  each  of  the  Old  Testament  sacraments.  The  one  idea 
of  sacrifice  was  the  blood  of  atonement.  The  same  idea 
appeared  in  circumcision,  revealing  atonement  by  the  blood 


Sec.  VI.]  THE  LIVING    WATER.  31 

of  the  seed  of  Abraham.  lu  the  passover  the  blood  of 
sprinkUug  was  the  most  couspicuous  feature ;  and  in  the 
Sinai  baptism  blood  and  water  were  the  essential  elements. 
Peter  states  the  Old  Testament  prophets  to  have  "in- 
quired and  searched  diligently,  searching  what,  or  what 
manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ  wliich  was  in  them 
did  signify,  when  if  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of 
Christ  and  the  glory  that  should  follow." — 1  Pet.  i,  10,  11. 
Of  the  time  and  manner  they  were  left  in  ignorance.  But 
the  blood,  in  aU  their  sacraments,  was  a  lucid  symbol, 
pointing  them  forward  to  the  sufferings  of  Christ  as  the 
essential  and  alone  argument  of  the  favor  and  grace  of 
God.  In  it,  and  in  the  rites  associated  with  it,  they  sa^^ 
dimly  it  may  be,  but  surely,  the  blessed  pledge  that  in 
the  fullness  of  time  "the  Messenger  of  the  covenant" 
would  appear  (Mai.  iii,  2),  magnify  the  law  and  make  it 
honorable  (Isa.-xlii,  21),  by  his  knowledge,  justify  many, 
bearing  their  iniquities  (Isa.  liii,  11),  and  sprinkle  the 
mercy-seat  in  heaven,  once  for  all,  with  his  own  precious 
and  effectual  blood — the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant. 
(Heb.  ix,  24-26;  xiii,  20;  1  Pet.  i,  11.) 

Section  VI. — The  Living  Water. 

In  the  Sinai  baptism,  as  at  first  administered  to  all 
Israel,  and  in  all  its  subsequent  forms,  living  or  running 
water  was  an  essential  element.  This  everywhere,  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  New,  is  the 
symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  his  office  as  the  agent  by 
whom  the  virtue  of  Christ's  blood  is  conveyed  to  men,  and 
spiritual  life  bestowed.  In  the  figurative  language  of  the 
Scriptures,  the  sea,  or  great  body  of  salt  or  dead  water, 
represents  the  dead  mass  of  fallen  and  dejn'aved  humanity. 
(Dan.  vii,  2,  3;  Isa.  Ivii,  20;  Rev.  xiii,  1;  xvii,  15.) 
Hence,  of  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth  which  are  re- 
vealed as  the  inheritance  of  God's  people,  it  is  said,  "And 
there  shall  be  no  more  sea." — Rev.  xxi,  1. 


32  BAPTISM  AT  SINAI.  [Part  I. 

The  particular  source  of  this  figure  seems  to  have  been 
that  accursed  sea  of  Sodom,  which  was  more  impressively 
familiar  to  Israel  thai!  auy  other  body  of  salt  water,  and 
which  has  acquired  in  modern  times  the  appropriate  name 
of  the  Dead  Sea — a  name  expressive  of  the  fact  that  its 
waters  destroy  alike  vegetation  on  its  banks  and  animal 
life  in  its  bosom.  Its  peculiar  and  instructive  position  in 
the  figurative  system  of  the  Scriptures  appears  in  the 
prophecy  of  Ezekiel  (xlvii,  8,  9-11),  where  the  river  of 
Hving  water  from  the  temple  is  described  as  flowing  east- 
Ward  to  the  sea ;  and  being  brought  forth  into  the  sea,  the 
salt  waters  are  healed,  so  that  "there  shall  be  abundance 
<ff  fish." 

Contrasted  with  this  figure  of  sea  water  is  that  of  liv- 
ing water,  that  is,  the  fresh  water  of  rain  and  of  fountains 
and  streams.  It  is  the  ordinary  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
(John  vii,  37-39.)  The  reason  is,  that,  as  this  water  is 
the  cause  of  life  and  growth  to  the  creation,  animal  and 
vegetable,  so,  the  Spirit  is  the  alone  source  of  spiritual  life 
and  growth.  The  primeval  type  of  that  blessed  Agent  was 
the  river  that  watered  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  thence 
fliowing,  was  parted  into  four  streams  to  water  the  earth. 
This  river  was  a  fitting  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  "  which 
proceedeth  from  the  Father,"  the  "  pure  river  of  water  of 
life  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God 
and  of  the  Lamb"  (John  xv,  26  ;  Rev.  xxii,  1),  not  only  in 
its  life-giving  virtue,  but  in  its  abundance  and  diffiision.  But 
the  fall  cut  man  ofl"  from  its  abundant  and  perennial 
stream,  and  thenceforth  the  figirre,  as  traceable  through 
the  Scriptures,  ever  looks  forward  to  that  promised  time 
when  the  ruin  of  the  fall  will  be  repaired,  and  the  gates 
of  Paradise  thrown  open  again.  In  the  last  chapters  of 
the  Revelation,  that  day  is  revealed  in  a  vision  of  glory. 
There  is  no  more  sea  ;  but  the  river  of  life  pours  its  exhaust- 
less  crystal  waters  through  the  restored  Eden  of  God.  But 
the  garden  is  no  longer  the  retired  home  of  one  human 


Sec.   VI.]  THE  LIVING   WATER.  83 

pair,  but  is  built  up,  a  great  city,  with  walls  of  gems  and 
streets  of  gold  and  gates  of  pearl  and  the  light  of  the  glory 
of  God.  And  the  nations  of  them  that  are  saved  do  walk 
in  the  light  of  it.  But  still  it  is  identified  as  the  same  of 
old,  by  the  flowing  river  and  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst 
on  its  banks.  (Kev.  ii,  7 ;  xxii,  1,2;  and  compare  Psalms 
xlvi,4;  xxiii,  2;  John  iv,  10,  14;  vii,  38,  39;  Zech.  xiv. 
S. )  In  Ezekiel  (xlvii,  1-12)  there  appears  a  vision  of  this 
river  as  a  prophecy  of  God's  grace  in  store  for  the  last 
times  for  Israel  and  the  world.  lu  it,  the  attention  of  the 
prophet  and  of  the  reader  is  called  distinctly  to  several 
points,  all  of  which  bear  directly  on  our  present  inquiry : 

1.  The  source  of  the  waters.  In  the  Kevelation,  it  is 
described  as  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb.  In  Ezekiel  the  same  idea  is  presented  under  the 
figure  of  the  temple,  God's  dwelling-place.  The  waters 
issue  out  from  under  the  threshold  of  the  house  **at  the 
south  side  of  the  altar" — the  altar  where  the  sprinkled 
blood  and  burning  sacrifices  testified  to  the  Person  by 
whom,  and  the  price  at  which,  the  Spirit  is  sent.  (Com- 
pare John  vii,  39 ;  xvi,  7 ;  Acts  ii,  33.) 

2.  The  exhaustless  and  increasing  flow  of  the  waters  is 
shown  to  the  prophet,  who,  at  a  thousand  cubits  from  their 
source,  is  led  through  them, — a  stream  ankle  deep.  A 
thousand  cubits  farther,  he  passed  through,  and  they  had 
risen  to  his  knees.  Again,  a  thousand  cubits,  and  the 
waters  were  to  his  loins ;  and  at  a  thousand  cubits  more  it 
was  a  river  that  he  could  not  pass  over.  "And  he  said 
unto  me,  Son  of  man,  hast  thou  seen  this?" 

3.  The  river  was  a  fountain  of  life.  On  its  banks  were 
*'  very  many  trees,"  "  all  trees  for  meat,"  with  fadeless  leaf 
and  exhaustless  fruit,  "  the  fruit  thereof  for  meat,  and  the 
leaf  thereof  for  medicine."  "And  there  shall  be  a  very 
great  multitude  offish"  in  the  Dead  Sea,  "because  these 
waters  shall  come  thither."  For  "  it  shall  come  to  pass 
that  every  thing  that  liveth  which  moveth,  whithersoever 


34  BAPTISM  AT  SINAI.  [Part  I. 

the  river  shall  come  shall  live.     Every  thing  shall  live, 
"whither  the  river  cometh." 

4.  By  these  living  waters,  the  Dead  Sea  of  dej^raved 
humanity  shall  be  healed.  ' '  Now  this  sea  of  Sodom," 
says  Thompson,  "is  so  intolerably  bitter,  that,  although 
the  Jordan,  the  Arnon,  and  many  other  streams  have  been 
pouring  into  it  their  vast  contributions  of  sweet  water  for 
thousands  of  years,  it  continues  as  nauseous  and  deadly  a^ 
ever.  Nothing  lives  in  it;  neither  fish  nor  reptiles  nor 
even  animalculae  can  abide  its  desperate  malignity.  But 
these  waters  from  the  sanctuary  heal  it.  The  w^hole 
world  affords  no  other  type  of  human  apostasy  so  appro- 
priate, so  significant.  Think  of  it!  There  it  lies  in  its 
sulphurous  sepulcher,  thirteen  hundred  feet  below  the 
ocean,  steaming  up  like  a  huge  caldron  of  smouldering  bi- 
tumen and  brimstone!  Neither  rain  from  heaven  nor 
mountain  torrents  nor  Jordan's  flood,  nor  all  combined  can 
change  its  character  of  utter  death.  Fit  symbol  of  that 
great  dead  sea  of  depravity  and  corruption  which  nothing 
human  can  heal!"*  But  the  pure  w^aters  of  the  river  of 
life  will  yet  pour  into  this  sea  of  death  a  tide  of  grace  by 
which  "the  waters  shall  be  healed." — Ezek.  xxvii,  8. 

In  the  prophecy  of  Joel  (iii,  18,)  there  is  another  allu- 
sion to  these  waters.  Again,  in  Zechariah  a  modified  form 
of  the  same  vision  appears.  "  It  shall  be  in  that  day  that 
living  waters  shall  go  out  from  Jerusalem ;  half  of  them 
toward  the  former"  (the  Eastern  or  Dead)  "  sea,  and  half 
of  them  toward  the  hinder  sea"  (the  Mediterranean).  "In 
summer  and  winter  shall  it  be ;"  not  a  mere  winter  torrent, 
as  are  most  of  the  streams  of  Palestine,  but  an  unfailing 
river.     (Zech.  xiv,  8.) 

Such  is  the  type  of  the  Spirit,  as  his  graces  flowed  in 
Eden,  and  shall  be  given  to  the  world,  in  the  times  of 
restitution.  But,  for  the  present  times,  the  symbols  of  rain 
and  fountains  of  springing  water  are  used  in  the  Scriptures 

*  "  The  Land  and  the  B)ok."  Vol.  II,  pp.  531,  534. 


Sec.  VI.]  '    THE  LIVING   WylTER.  35 

as  tlie  appropriate  types  of  the  now  limited  and  unequal 
measure  and  distribution  of  the  Spirit.  The  manner  and 
effects  of  his  agency  are  set  forth  under  three  forms,  each 
having  its  own  significance : 

1.  Inasmuch  as  the  rains  of  heaven  are  the  great  source 
of  life  and  refreshment  to  the  earth  and  vegetation,  the 
coming  of  the  Spirit  and  his  efficiency  as  a  life-giving  and 
sanctifying  power  sent  down  from  heaven  are  expressed  by 
water,  shed  down,  poured,  or  sprinkled,  as  the  rain  de- 
scends. Says  God  to  Israel:  "  I  will  pour  water  upon  him 
that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground  ;  I  will  pour 
my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  off- 
spring."— Isa.  xliv,  3.  The  Psalmist  says  of  the  graces  of 
the  Spirit  to  be  bestowed  by  Messiah,  "  He  shall  come 
down  like  rain  upon  the  mown  grass"  (the  stubble,  after 
mowing)  "  as  showers  that  water  the  earth." — Psalm 
Ixxii,  6.     Of  this  we  shall  see  more  hereafter. 

2.  The  act  of  faith  by  which  the  believer  seeks  and  re- 
ceives more  and  more  of  the  indwelling  Spirit  is  symbol- 
ized by  thirsting  and  drinking  of  living  water.  "  Ho,  every 
one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters." — ^Isa.  Iv,  1. 
"  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink.  .  .  . 
This  he  spake  of  the  Spirit  which  they  that  believe  on  him 
should  receive." — John  vii,  37-39.  "Let  him  that  is 
athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water 
of  life  freely." — ^Rev.  xxii,  17.  The  intimate  relation  which 
this  figure  sustains,  responsive  to  the  one  preceding,  is 
illustrated  by  the  expression  wherein  God  describes  the 
land  of  promise  :  ''A  land  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  drinh- 
eth  water  of  the  rain  of  heaven.  A  land  which  the  Lord 
thy  God  careth  for." — Deut.  xi,  11,  12.  With  this,  com- 
pare the  language  of  Paul:  "The  earth  which  drinheth  in 
the  rain  that  cometh  oft  upon  it,  and  bringeth  forth  herbs 
meet  for  them  by  whom  it  is  dressed,  receiveth  blessing 
of  God ;  but  that  which  beareth  thorns  and  briars  is  re- 
jected  and   is   nigh    unto   cursing;    whose   end    is   to   be 


86  BAPTISM  AT  SIXAI.  [Part  I. 

biirued.  But,  beloved,  we  are  persuaded  better  things  of 
you." — Heb.  vi,  7-9.  The  figure  is  further  illustrated  iu 
the  sublime  description  given  by  Ezekiel  of  the  destruction 
of  Assyria,  in  which  he  speaks  of  "  the  trees  of  Eden,  the 
choice  and  best  of  Lebanon,  all  that  drhik  water ^^  and  so 
grow  and  flourish.     (Ezek.  xxxi,  16.) 

3.  The  duty  of  the  penitent  to  yield  himself  with  dili- 
gent obedience  to  the  sanctifying  power  and  grace  of  the. 
Holy  Spirit,  to  put  away  sin  and  follow  after  holiness,  is 
enjoined  under  the  figure  of  washing  himself  with  water. 
"Wash  ye;  make  you  clean;  put  away  the  evil  of  your 
doings  from  before  mine  eyes ;  cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to 
to  well." — Isa.  i,  16,  17.  "O  Jerusalem,  wash  thine  heart 
from  wickedness,  that  thou  mayest  be  saved." — Jer.  iv,  14. 
So,  James  cries,  "Cleanse  your  hands,  ye  sinners;  and 
purify  your  hearts,  ye  double-minded." — Jas.  iv,  8.  In 
the  rite  of  self-washing,  to  which  these  last  passages  refer, 
the  pure  w^ater  still  symbolized  the  Holy  Spirit  given  by 
Jesus  Christ;  whilst  the  washing  expressed  the  privilege 
and  duty  of  God's  people  conforming  their  lives  to  the  law 
of  holiness,  and  exercising  the  graces  which  the  Spirit 
gives. 


Skc.  VII.  1  THE  ABRAIIAMIC  COVENANT.  37 


Part  II. 

THE  VISIBLE  CHURCH. 

Section  VII. — The  Abrahamic  Covenant. 

THE  interest  attaching  to  the  Sinai  baptism  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  its  immediate  and  intimate  relation  to 
us.  The  covenant  then  sealed  is  the  fundamental  and  per- 
petual charter  of  the  visible  church.  The  transaction  by 
which  it  was  established  was  the  inauguration  of  that 
church.  It  was  the  espousal  of  the  bride  of  Christ,  whose 
betrothal  took  place  in  the  covenant  with  Abraham.  So  it 
is  expressly  and  repeatedly  stated  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in 
the  prophets.  (See  Jer.  ii,  1,  2;  Ezck.  xvi,  3-14;  xxiii ; 
PIos.  ii,  2,  15,  16.)  It  is  true  that  this  is  controverted. 
It  is  asserted  that  the  relations  established  by  the  covenants 
between  God  and  Israel  were  secular  and  political,  not 
spiritual ;  that  the  blessings  therein  secured  were  temj^oral ; 
that  they  conveyed  nothing  but  a  guarantee  that  Israel 
should  become  a  numerous  and  powerful  nation,  that  God 
would  be  their  political  king,  the  Head  of  their  common- 
wealth, and  that  the  laud  of  Palestine  should  be  their 
possession  and  home.  IIow  utterly  at  variance  with  the 
teachings  of  God's  AYord  are  these  assertions  a  brief  anal- 
ysis of  the  record  will  prove. 

The  covenant  of  Sinai  was  the  culmination  of  a  series 
of  transactions  which  began  with  the  calling  of  Abram 
from  Ur  of  the  Chaldces.  ' '  The  Lord  had  said  unto  Abram, 
Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy  kindred  and 
from  thy  father's  house,  unto  a  land  that  I  will  show  thee ; 
and  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will  bless 
thee  and   make   thy   name   great ;    and    thou  shalt   be  a 


38  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

blessing;  and  I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee,  and  curse 
him  that  curse th  thee ;  and  in  thee  shall  all  families  of 
the  earth  be  blessed." — Gen.  xii,  1-3.  Respecting  this 
record,  the  following  points  are  made  clear  in  the  New 
Testament:  (1)  That  under  the  type  of  Canaan,  "the 
land  that  I  will  show  thee,"  heaven  was  the  ultimate  in- 
heritance offered  to  Abram  ;  and  that  it  was  so  understood 
by  him  and  the  patriarchs.  (Gal.  iv,  26 ;  Heb.  xi,  10, 
14-16.)  (2)  That  the  blessings  promised  through  him  to 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  were  the  atonement  and  sal- 
vation of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  this  also  was  so  under- 
stood by  Abram.  (Gen.  xvii,  7 ;  Gal.  iii,  16 ,  John  viii, 
56.)  Thus,  in  his  call  from  Chaldea,  and  the  promises 
annexed  to  it,  God  "preached  before  the  gospel  unto 
Abraham." — Gal.  iii,  8.  So  far,  certainly,  the  transaction 
is  eminently  spiritual.  "^ 

About  ten  years  after  the  coming  of  Abram  into  the 
land  of  Canaan,  the  promises  were  confirmed  to  him  by 
being  incorporated  into  covenant  form,  and  ratified  by  a 
seal.  Respecting  this  first  covenant,  the  record  of  which 
is  contained  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Genesis,  the  fol- 
lowing are  the  essential  points : 

1.  The  interview  was  opened  by  the  Lord  with  an 
assurance  so  spiritual  and  large  as  to  be  exhaustive  of 
every  thing  that  heaven  can  bestow.  "The  Lord  came 
unto  Abram  in  a  vision,  saying.  Fear  not,  Abram ;  I  am 
thy  shield,  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward."  Whatever 
else  was  promised  or  given,  after  an  assurance  thus  rich 
and  comprehensive  of  time  and  eternity,  must  evidently 
be  interpreted  in  a  sense  subordinate  to  it.  No  minor 
particulars  can  ever  exhaust  or  limit  the  treasury  thus 
opened.     Henceforth  God  himself  belongs  to  the  jDatriarch. 

2.  An  innumerable  seed  was  assured  to  him,  as  heirs 
with  him  of  the  promises ;  and  he  is  told  that  not  to  him 
but  to  his  seed  should  the  earthly  Canaan  be  given.  (Vs. 
5,  18 ;  and  compare  xvii,  7,  8.) 


Sec.  V:I.]  THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.  39 

3.  Abram's  faith  was  the  conditiou  of  the  covenant. 
"  He  beUeved  in  the  Lord,  and  he  counted  it  to  him  for 
righteousness. "--Vs.  6. 

4.  The  promises  thus  made  and  accepted  were  con- 
firmed by  a  sacrifice  appointed  of  God,  and  his  acceptance 
of  it  was  manifested  by  the  sign  of  a  smoking  furnace  and 
a  burning  lamp,  passing  between  the  pieces.  (Vs.  8,  9, 
17,  18.) 

5.  It  was  an  express  provision  of  the  covenant  thus 
ratified  that,  so  far  as  it  concerned  the  seed  of  Abram,  its 
reahzation  was  to  be  held  in  abeyance  four  hundred  years. 
(Vs.  13-16.)  It  was  the  betrothal,  of  which  the  marriage 
consummation  could  only  take  place  Avhen  the  long-suffer- 
ing of  God  toward  the  nations  was  exhausted  and  the  in- 
iquity of  the  Amorites  was  full. 

About  fifteen  years  afterward  God  was  pleased  to  ap- 
pear again  to  the  patriarch,  to  renew  the  covenant,  and  to 
confirm  it  with  a  new  seal.  (Gen.  xvii,  1-21.)  Of  this 
edition  of  the  covenant  the  principal  provisions  were: 
(1)  That  he  should  be  a  father  of  many  nations.  (2) 
That  Canaan  should  be,  to  him  and  his  seed,  an  everlast- 
ing possession.  (3)  That  God  would  be  a  God  to  him 
and  to  his  seed  after  him.  By  the  first  of  these  prom- 
ises, as  Paul  assures  us,  Abraham  was  made  the  heir  of 
the  world,  and  the  father  of  all  believers ;  of  the  gospel 
day,  as  well  as  before  it;  of  the  Gentile  nations,  as 
well  as  of  Israel.  (Rom.  iv,  11-18 ;  Gal.  iii,  7-9,  14.) 
Hence  the  name  given  him  of  God,  in  confirmation  of 
this  promise  (Gen.  xvii,  5),  Abraham,  "Father  of  a 
multitude,"  Father  of  the  church  of  Christ.  But  the  cen- 
tral fact  of  this  transaction  remains.  The  covenant  was 
epitomized  in  one  brief  word:  "I  will  establish  my  cove- 
nant between  me  and  thee  and  thy  seed  after  thee,  in  their 
generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  to  he  a  God  unto 
thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  tJiee." — v.  7. 


40  ■         THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

1.  The  covenant  thus  set  forth  is  "an  everlasting  cov- 
enant ;"  no  laj^se  of  time  can  alter  or  abrogate  its  terms. 

2.  By  it  the  Godhead  assumed  toward  Abraham  and 
his  seed  relations  peculiar,  exclusive,  and  of  boundless 
grace.  God,  even  the  infinite  and  almighty  God,  can  do 
no  more  than  to  give  himself.  Christian  can  conceive  no 
more,  and  the  most  blessed  of  all  heaven's  ransomed  host 
will  know  and  enjoy  no  more  than  this,  which  was  first 
assured  to  Abram,  in  those  words,  "Fear  not;  I  am  thy 
shield,  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward;"  and  is  now  con- 
centrated into  that  one  word,  "  Thxj  God."  What  can 
there  be,  not  spiritual,  in  a  covenant  thus  summed?  And 
what  spiritual  gift  or  blessing  is  not  comprehended  in  it  ? 
But  this  is  no4  all.  Whilst  Paul  testifies  that  all  who  be- 
lieve are  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  heirs  with  him  of  the 
promises,  he  also  declares  that  Christ  was  the  seed  to  whom 
distinctively  and  on  behalf  of  his  people  they  were  ad- 
dressed :  "To  Abraham  and  his  seed  w^ere  the  promises 
made.  He  saith  not,  And  to  seeds  as  of  many,  but  as  of 
one :  And  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ." — Gal.  iii,  16.  It 
thus  appears  that  the  promises  in  question  were  addressed 
immediately  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  they  indicate  all  the 
intimacy  and  grace  of  his  relation  to  the  Father, — the  re- 
lation which  he  claimed,  when,  from  the  cross,  he  appealed 
to  the  Father  by  that  title:  "J%  ^^^-  "^2/  G^^^-^-  ^^'^y  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  ?"  It  follows,  that  the  title  of  others  to 
this  promise  is  mediate  only:  "As  many  of  you  as  have 
been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ.  .  .  .  And 
if  ye  be  Christ's,  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs 
according  to  the  promise." — ^Ib.  27-29. 

It  w^as  with  a  view  to  this  relation  of  the  covenant  to 
the  Lord  Jesus,  that  circumcision  was  appointed  as  a  seal 
of  it.  In  that  rite  was  signified  satisfaction  to  justice 
through  the  blood  of  the  promised  Seed,  and  the  crucify- 
ing of  our  old  man  with  him,  to  the  putting  off  and  de- 


Skc.  VII.]  THE  ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT.  41 

stroying  of  the  body  of  the  flesh.  (Dent,  x,  16  ;  Jer.  iv, 
4;  Rom.  vi,  6;  Col  ii,  11,  12.) 

Upon  occasion  of  the  ojSering  of  Isaac,  the  covenant 
was  again  confirmed  to  Abraham  in  promises  -svhich  do  not 
mention  Canaan,  but  are  summed  in  the  intensive  assur- 
ances: "In  blessing  I  will  bless  thee,  and  in  multiplying 
I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  as  the 
sand  which  is  upon  the  sea-shore,  and  thy  seed  shall  possess 
the  gate  of  his  enemies,  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  be  blessed." — Gen.  xxii,  lG-18.  What  seed 
it  was  to  whom  these  promises  were  made,  we  have  seen 
before.  The  assurance  to  him  of  triumph  over  his  ene- 
mies renews  the  pledge  made  to  Eve,  through  the  curse 
upon  the  serpent,  "Her  seed  shall  bruise  thy  head." — 
Gen.  iii,  15.  Of  the  same  thing,  the  Spirit  in  Isaiah  says; 
"  Therefore  will  I  divide  him  a  portion  with  the  great,  and 
he  shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong ;  because  he  hath 
poured  out  his  soul  unto  death,  and  he  was  numbered  with 
the  transgressors;  and  he  bare  the  sin  of  many  and  made 
intercession  for  the  transgressors." — Isa.  liii,  12.  Of  it, 
Paul  says  i*^' He  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies 
under  his  feet." — 1  Cor.  xv,  25. 

The  covenant  thus  interj)reted,  was  confirmed  to  Abra- 
ham with  an  oath  (v.  16),  of  which  Paul  says:  "Wherein 
God,  willing  more  abundantly  to  show  unto  the  heirs  of 
promise  the  immutability  of  his  counsel,  confirmed  it  by 
an  oath ;  that,  by  two  immutable  things,  in  which  it  was 
im^wssible  for  God  to  lie,  we  might  have  a  strong  consola- 
tion who  have  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold  upon  the  hope 
set  before  us.  Which  hope  we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the 
soul  both  sure  and  steadfast,  and  which  entereth  into  that 
within  the  veil,  whither  the  forerunner  is  for  us  entered, 
even  Jesus." — Heb.  vi,  17-20.  Here,  again,  it  ap])ears 
that  the  covenant  with  Abraham  comprehended  in  its 
terms  the  very  highest  hopes  which  Christ's  blood  has  pur- 
chased,— which  he,  in  heaven,  as  his  [)eople's   forerunner, 

4 


42  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

uow  possesses,  and  which  with  him  they  shall  finally  share ; 
and  that  the  oath  by  which  it  was  confirmed  contemplated 
these  very  things,  and  was  designed  to  perfect  the  faith 
and  confidence  of  his  people,  in  the  gospel  day,  as  well  as 
of  the  patriarchs  and  saints  of  old. 

It  is  thus  manifest  that  while  the  Abrahamic  covenant 
did  undoubtedly  convey  to  Abraham  and  his  seed  after  the 
flesh  many  and  precious  temporal  blessings,  it  was  at  the 
same  time  an  embodiment  of  the  very  terms  of  the  cove- 
nant between  God  and  his  Christ;  that  its  provisions  of 
grace  to  man  are  bestowed  wholly  in  Christ ;  and  that  it 
is,  therefore,  exclusive  and  everlasting.  There  can  be  no 
reconciliation  between  God  and  man,  but  upon  the  terms 
of  this  covenant.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no  people  of 
God,  no  true  church  of  Christ,  but  of  those  who  accept 
and  are  embraced  in,  and  built  upon,  that  alone  founda- 
tion, "the  everlasting  covenant"  made  with  Abraham. 

Section  VIII. — Tlie  Conditions  of  the  Sinai  Covenant. 

At  length,  the  four  hundred  years  were  past.  The  pro- 
bation of  the  apostate  nations  was  finished.  The  iniquity 
of  the  Amorites  was  full.  God  remembered  his  covenant 
with  Abraham,  and  sent  Moses  into  Egypt,  saying  to  him: 
"I  am  Jehovah.  And  I  appeared  unto  Abraham,  unto 
Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  by  the  name  of  God  Almighty ;  but 
by  my  name,  Jehovah,  was  I  not  known  to  them.  And  I 
have  also  established  my  covenant  with  them,  to  give  them 
the  land  of  Canaan,  the  land  of  their  pilgrimage,  wherein 
they  were  strangers.  And  I  have  also  heard  the  groaning 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  Avhom  the  Egyptians  keep  in 
bondage,  and  I  have  remembered  my  covenant.  "Where- 
fore, say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I  am  the  Lord,  and  I 
will  bring  you  out  from  under  the  burdens  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  I  will  rid  you  out  of  their  bondage,  and  I  will 
redeem  you  with  a  stretched  out  arm  and  with  great  judg- 
ments ;  and  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  people,  and  I  will 


Sec.  VIII.]     CONDITIONS  OF  SINAI  COVENANT.  43 

be  to  you  a  God  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord 
your  God,  which  bringeth  you  out  from  under  the  burdens 
of  the  Egyptians.  And  I  ^vill  bring  you  in  unto  the  land, 
concerning  which  1  did  swear  to  give  it  to  Abraham,  to 
Isaac,  and  to  Jacob." — Ex.  vi,  2-8.  In  this  initial  com- 
munication we  have  the  key  to  the  Sinai  covenant,  and  to 
all  God's  subsequent  dealings  with  Israel.  In  it  three 
things  are  specially  observable.  ( !•  )  The  Abrahamic 
covenant  is  designated,  "my  covenant,"  in  accordance  with 
W'hat  we  have  already  seen  as  to  the  nature  of  that  cove- 
nant, as  exclusive  and  everlasting.  (2.)  Its  scope  is  stated 
in  those  all-embracing  terms,  "I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a 
people,  and  I  w^ill  be  to  you  a  God."  (3.)  The  possession 
of  the  earthly  Canaan  is  specified  as  a  minor  particular, 
under  this  comprehensive  pledge. 

With  all  this  the  Sinai  covenant  was  in  accord.  Its 
conditional  terms  we  have  seen,  as  propounded  through 
Moses.  "  Thus  shalt  thou  say  to  the  house  of  Jacob,  and 
tell  the  children  of  Israel :  Ye  have  seen  what  I  did 
to  the  Egyptians,  and  how  I  bare  you  on  eagles'  wings, 
and  brought  you^  unto  myself  Now,  therefore,  ij  ye  ivill 
obeij  my  voice  indeed,  and  keep  my  covenant." — Ex.  xix,  3-5. 
The  "  voice"  which  they  were  to  obey  they  heard  on  the 
next  day,  when  God  spake  to  them  the  words  of  the  law, 
from  the  midst  of  the  smoke  and  flame.  Of  it  Moses 
afterward  reminded  the  people  :  "  Ye  cam'e  near  and  stood 
under  the  mountain;  and  the  mountain  burned  with  fire 
unto  the  midst  of  heaven,  with  darkness,  clouds,  and  thick 
darkness.  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  fire :  ye  heard  the  voice  of  the  w^ords,  but  saw  no 
similitude,  only  a  voice.  And  he  declared  unto  you  his 
covenant  which  he  commanded  you  to  perform,  even  ten 
commandments;  and  he  wrote  them  upon  two  tables  of 
stone."— Dent,  iv,  11-13.  Very  great  emphasis  attaches 
to  the  Ton  Commandments,  in  their  relation  as  thus  the 
fundamental  law  of  tlie  covenant.     Tlie  first  overture  hav- 


44  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

ing  been  addressed  to  Israel,  in  the  terms,  *'If  ye  will 
obey  my  voice,"  and  by  them  accepted,  the  next  day  that 
voice  was  heard  uttering  those  commandments.  Again 
the  people  are  called  upon,  and  again  respond  in  pledge 
of  obedience.  Moses  then  wrote  in  "  the  book  of  the  cov- 
enant" all  these  words  of  the  Lord,  and  read  them  in  the 
audience  of  the  people.  And  it  was  not  till  again  they 
promised  obedience  to  the  terms  thus  set  before  them  that 
the  covenant  was  ratified,  as  we  have  seen.  The  Ten 
Commandments  were  then,  by  the  finger  of  God,  engraved 
on  the  two  tables  of  stone,  which  were  thence  known  as 
''  the  tables  of  the  covenant."  These  were  placed  in  "  the 
ark  of  the  covenant,"  which  was  in  the  holy  of  holies,  in 
"the  tabernacle  of  the  covenant."  Both  of  these  derived 
their  names  and  significance  from  these  tables,  which  were 
the  very  center  of  the  Avhole  system  of  religion  and  wor- 
ship connected  with  the  tabernacle.  The  lid  of  the  ark 
which  covered  these  tables  was  the  golden  mercy-seat,  with 
its  cherubim  of  gold,  between  which  stood  the  pillar  of 
glory,  the  Shechinah,  overshadowing  the  mercy-seat.  It 
thus  typified  God's  throne  of  grace  immovably  based  upon 
the  firm  foundation  of  his  eternal  law — mercy  to  man  ouly 
possible  on  condition  of  satisfaction  to  that  law.  There- 
fore, when  remembrance  of  sins  was  made  every  3'ear 
(Heb.  X,  3),  it  was  by  the  sprinkling  of  blood  upon  the 
mercy-seat  and  tlie  ark  of  the  covenant.  (lb.  ix,  7.)  A 
proper  regard  to  the  fact  that  the  moral  law  was  thus  the 
fundamental  condition  of  the  covenant,  while  the  ritual 
law  was  no  part  of  it,  but  a  later  system  of  testimony, 
would  have  prevented  much  perplexing  and  erroneous 
speculation  on  the  subject. 

But  the  covenant  had  a  second  condition,  "  If  ye  will 
fceep  my  covenant."  This  second  clause  is  implied  in  the 
first.  But  it  is  none  the  less  important  and  significant,  as 
being  a  categorical  statement  of  the  nature  of  the  obedi- 
ence required.     AVe  have  already  pointed  out  the  fact  that 


Sec.  IX.]  PROMISES  OF  SINAI  COVENANT.  45 

by  '' m\j  covenant"  was  meant  the  covenant  with  Abraham, 
so  interpreted  by  God  himself  in  his  first  communication 
to  Israel  in  Egypt.  The  covenant  thus  defined  bad  but  one 
condition  and  two  promises.  The  promises  were,  to  bring 
tliem  out  of  the  bondage  of  Egypt  and  give  them  the 
land  of  Canaan,  and  to  be  to  them  a  God.  The  condition 
was,  that  Israel,  in  turn,  would  surrender  themselves  to 
be  for  a  people  to  God.  (Ex.  vi,  7.)  This  condition  is 
the  only  thing  that  can  be  meant  by  the  phrase,  ''  If  ^e 
will  keep  my  covenant."  It  was  the  only  duty  laid  upon 
them  by  that  covenant.  We  thus  find  the  tw^o  funda- 
mental conditions  of  the  Sinai  covenant  to  have  been  in 
the  terms,  ''If  ye  will  obey  my  voice  indeed" — the  voice 
that  spake  in  the  Ten  Commandments — and,  "If  ye  will 
keep  my  covenant,"  to  be  a  willing  people  unto  me,  and 
cleave  to  me  as  your  God.  Such  was  the  foundation-stone 
on  which  the  church  was  built. 

Section  IX. — The  Promises  of  the  Sinai  Covenant. 

As  were  the  conditions  of  the  covenant,  so  w^re  its 
promises  altogether  and  eminently  spiritual. 

1.  "Ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  peculiar  treasure  above  all 
people ;  for  all  the  earth  is  mine."  A  treasure  is  a  prop- 
erty, valuable,  highly  prized,  and  cherished.  It  is  riches 
to  the  owner ;  his  enjoyments  largely  depend  thereon ; 
and  over  it  he  therefore  exercises  a  watchful  guardianship. 
Such  was  the  relation  which,  by  the  covenant,  God  con- 
ferred on  Israel.  The  expression  is  strengthened  by  the 
qualifying  adjective,  "  peculiar,"  which  means,  special  and 
exclusive.  "My  own  special  treasure."  What  was  thus 
implied  may  be  gathered  from  a  single  Scripture.  Says 
the  Lord,  by  Malachi :  "Then  they  that  feared  the  Lord 
spake  often  one  to  another,  and  the  Lord  liearkened  and 
hoard  it,  and  a  book  of  remembrance  was  written  before 
him  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thouglit  upon 
his'  name.     And   they  shall   be   mine,  saith   the  Lord  of 


46  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

hosts,  iu  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels"  ("my  pe- 
ciih'ar  treasures."  The  word  in  the  original  is  the  same), 
"and  I  will  spare  them,  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son 
that  serveth  him.  Then  shall  ye  return  and  discern  be- 
tween the  righteous  and  the  wicked ;  between  him  that 
serveth  God,  and  him  that  serveth  him  not." — Mai.  iii. 
16-18.  By  this  clause,  Israel  became  the  object  of  God's 
assiduous  watchfulness  and  constant  care  as  his  own  pe- 
culiar treasure  of  price. 

2.  The  parenthetic  clause,  "  For  all  the  earth  is 
mine,"  is  of  singular  interest.  The  covenant  with  Abra- 
ham conveyed  the  assurance  that  in  him  should  * '  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  The  clause  inserted  in 
the  Sinai  overture  was  a  reminder  to  Israel  of  that  fact, 
to  certify  them  and  the  world  that  the  purpose  concerning 
the  latter  was  unchanged,  that  the  peculiar  relation  now 
assumed  toward  Israel  w^as  not  incongruous  to  it;  that,  on 
the  contrary,  whilst  Israel  was  first,  it  was  not  alone  in 
the  obligations  and  promises  of  the  covenant.  "All  the 
earth  is  mine;"  and  the  claim  which,  in  such  a  transac- 
tion, God  thus  makes  he  will  surely  vindicate,  in  his  own 
good  time,  by  taking  his  own  to  himself,  bringing  them, 
also,  within  the  pale  of  his  covenant,  and  gathering  from 
them  a  revenue  of  praise  and  glory. 

3.  "A  kingdom  of  priests."  Israel's  acceptance  of  the 
first  condition  of  the  covenant,  "  If  ye  will  obey  my  voice," 
erected  them  into  a  kingdom,  of  which  God  was  the  alone 
sovereign, — the  kingdom  of  God.  This  promise  defines  the 
character  and  function  of  that  kingdom, — "a  kingdom  of 
priests;"  or,  rather,  "a  priest-kingdom."  Israel  was  thus 
ordained  to  the  exalted  ofiice  of  intercessory  mediation  for 
the  world,  and  of  testimony  to  it  on  God's  behalf.  Had 
ten  righteous  men  been  found  in  the  cities  of  the  plain, 
they  would  have  been  spared,  for  the  sake  of  those  ten. 
(Gen.  xviii,  32.)  The  angels  of  destruction  could  do  noth- 
ing to  Sodom  until  Lot  departed  out  of  it.     (lb.  xix,  22.) 


Skc.  IX.]  PROMISES  OF  SINAI  COVENANT.  47 

Hud  one  righteous  man  been  found  in  Jerusalem  in  the 
days  of  Jeremiah,  the  city  would  have  been  spared  for  the 
sake  of  that  one.  (Jer.  v,  1.)  Aaron  the  priest,  with  his 
golden  censer — a  type  of  the  prayers  of  the  saints  (Eev. 
V,  8 ;  viii,  3) — standing  between  the  living  and  the  dead, 
stayed  the  plague  in  the  camp  of  Israel.  (Num.  xvi,  46-48.) 
So,  Israel  itself  was  now  ordained  a  mediatiug  priest,  to 
stand  for  the  time  then  present,  betAveen  the  living  and 
the  dead  of  the  nations,  in  the  ordinances  at  the  sanctu- 
ary, uplifting  a  censer  of  intercession  which  stayed  the 
sword  of  justice  that  was  ready  to  destroy  them;  and  ap- 
pointed to  become  at  length  the  agent  of  the  world's  salva- 
tion, through  atonement  made  by  one  of  their  nation,  and 
the  gospel  sent  forth  from  Jerusalem  to  all  the  world,  by 
the  preaching  of  Israel's  sons.  Thus  was  it  a  priest-king- 
dom, set  apart  and  sanctified  of  God,  to  be  for  salvation  to 
all  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

This  priestly  consecration  of  Israel,  moreover,  consti- 
tuted her  a  witness  on  behalf  of  God  among  the  nations. 
It  was  the  lighting  of  a  lamp  to  shine  amid  the  darkness 
of  the  world.  The  office  to  which  she  Avas  thus  ordained 
was  not  yet  aggressive ;  for  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  Avere 
not  come.  Yet  was  hers  none  the  less  a  public  and  active 
testimony,  Avhich,  if  they  Avould,  the  Gentiles  could  hear, 
a  gospel  light  which  did,  in  fact,  penetrate  far  into  the 
darkness,  and  prepared  the  nations  for  the  coming  of 
Christ  and  the  gospel  day.  For  the  time  being,  it  Avas 
the  office  of  Israel  to  cherish  the  light,  by  keeping  the 
oracles  and  maintaining  the  ordinances  of  God's  Avorship, 
and  transmitting  them  to  their  children,  until  the  fullness 
of  time. 

4.  ''  A  holy  nation."  The  Avord  ''  holy"  primarily  desig- 
nates the  completeness  and  symmetry  of  tlie  moral  perfec- 
tu)ns  of  God.  From  hence,  it  is  transferred  to  those  attri- 
butes in  the  intelligent  creatures  Avhich  are  in  the  likeness 
of  God's  hoHness.     And,  as  the  distinguishing  characteristic 


48  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

of  holiness  in  a  creature  is  surrender  and  consecration  to 
God,  the  word  is  used  to  designate  all  such  things  as  are 
his  by  pecuhar  dedication  to  his  service.  Thus,  the  altar, 
the  tabernacle,  and  all  the  vessels  and  things  pertaining 
thereto,  were  holy.  So  the  tithe  of  the  land,  of  the  flocks, 
and  of  the  herds,  was  holy ;  and  the  firstborn  of  men  and 
of  beasts.  (Lev.  xxvii,  30,  32 ;  Luke  ii,  23.)  In  this 
sense  of  accepted  consecration,  and  of  appropriation  to  him- 
self, God  here  puts  upon  Israel  the  designation  of  "  a  holy 
nation."  Henceforth,  they  w^ere  so  named,  and  the  obliga- 
tion implied  therein  constantly  insisted  upon,  as  demand- 
ing from  them  real  separation  to  God,  and  holiness  of 
heart  and  life.  Says  the  Lord:  "Ye  shall  be  holy  men 
unto  me,  neither  shall  ye  eat  any  flesh  that  is  torn  of 
beasts  in  the  field." — Ex.  xxii,  31.  Moses  exhorts  them 
to  abhor  and  destroy  the  idols  of  the  laud,  "  For  thou  art 
a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God ;  the  Lord  thy  God 
hath  chosen  thee  to  be  a  special  people  unto  himself,  above 
all  people  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.  .  .  .  Thou 
shalt,  therefore,  keep  the  commandments  and  the  statutes 
aud  the  judgmeuts  which  I  command  thee  this  day  to  do 
them."— Deut.  vii,  6-11.  From  this  article  of  the  cove- 
nant, the  New  Testament  designation  of  the  members  of 
the  visible  church  is  derived.  Says  Peter,  "Ye  are  a 
chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  )iol\j  nation,  a  pecu- 
har people." — 1  Peter,  ii,  9.  Hence,  the  name  of  "saints," 
or,  "holy  ones,"  which,  familiar  in  the  Psalms,  is  con- 
stantly used  in  the  epistles,  as  the  distinctive  title  of  the 
members  of  the  New  Testament  Church. 

Thus  it  appears  that  in  all  the  provisions  of  the  cove- 
nant earthly  and  temporal  blessings  are  not  once  alluded 
to.  That  clause  of  the  Abrahamic  covenant  which  con- 
cerned the  possession  of  Canaan  was,  indeed,  referred  to  at 
Sinai,  and  Israel  was  assured  of  its  fulfillment.  (Ex.  xxiii, 
23.)  But  it  was  then,  and  ever  after,  spoken  of  and 
treated  as  already  and  finally  settled  by  the  promise  made 


S  EC .  X .  ]  ITS  IN  A  UGURA  TION.  4^ 

to  Abraham,  (Ex.  vi,  3-8;  Deut.  vii,  7-9;  ix,  5,  6; 
Psalm  cv,  8-11.)  Moreover,  the  bestowal  of  Canaan  was 
in  no  sense  a  secular  transaction.  Not  only  as  a  type  of 
the  better  country  was  it  designed  and  calculated  to  awaken 
and  stimulate  heavenly  aspirations.  (Heb.  xi,  8-16.)  But, 
like  the  fastnesses  of  the  Alps,  for  centuries  the  retreat 
and  home  of  the  gospel  among  the  martyr  Waldenses,  Ca- 
naan, planted  in  the  very  center  of  the  old  world-empires, 
and  upon  the  mid  line  of  march  of  the  world's  great  history, 
was  chosen  and  prepared  of  God  as  a  fortress  of  security 
entrenched  for  Israel's  protection,  in  the  midst  of  the  apos- 
tate and  hostile  nations,  while  tending  and  nourishing  the 
beacon  fire  of  gospel  light  w^hich  glow^ed  on  Mount  Zion, 
and  shed  its  beams  afar  into  the  gloom  of  thick  darkness 
which  enshrouded  the  world.  As  such,  it  was  assured  to 
Abraham's  seed  by  the  covenant  with  him  and  the  seal 
set  in  their  flesh. 

Section  X. — Tlie  Visible  Church  was  thus  established. 

The  Sinai  covenant  gave  origin  to  the  visible  church 
of  God.  By  the  visible  church,  I  mean  that  society  among 
men  which  God  has  called  and  taken  into  covenant  and 
communion  with  himself,  and  ordained  to  be  his  witness  to 
the  world.  Two  points  are  essentially  involved  in  the 
definition.  The  first  is  the  relation  to  God  established  by 
the  terras — "  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  people;  and  I 
will  be  to  you  a  God."  The  second  is  the  office  to  which 
the  church  is  thus  called  and  ordained,  to  be  God's  wit- 
ness, testifying  on  his  behalf  against  the  world's  apostasy. 
Such  is  Peter's  declaration,  quoting  the  terms  of  the  Sinai 
covenant,  and  applying  them  to  the  New  Testament 
church:  "Ye  are  a  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood, 
a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar  people;  that  ye  should  shoiv  forth 
the  praiseji  of  him  who  hath  called  you  out  of  darkness  into 
his  marvelous  light;  which  in  time  past  were  not  a  people, 
but  are  now  the  people  of  God.'' — 1  Peter  ii,  9,  10.     This 


50  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

privilege  of  communion,  and  this  office  of  testimony  were 
implied  and  involved  in  the  whole  covenant,  and  all  its 
terms;  but  especially  indicated  by  that  expression,  '*  Ye 
shall  be  unto  me  a  kingdom  of  priests,  and  a  holy  nation." 
It  is  the  privilege  of  priests  to  draw  nigh  to  God,  and  their 
office  to  testify  on  God's  behalf  to  men. 

The  manner  and  meaning  of  the  designation  by  which, 
throughout  the  Greek  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
of  the  New,  the  body  thus  constituted  is  known  as  the 
eJcUesia,  the  church,  is  worthy  of  special  notice  in  this  con- 
nection. The  fact  of  God  having  met  with  Israel  at 
Sinai,  and  communed  with  them  in  an  audible  voice,  is 
referred  to  by.  Moses  and  emphasized  as  being  a  signal 
demonstration  of  relations  established  of  extraordinary  in- 
timacy. "  What  nation  is  there  so  great  which  hath  God 
so  nigh  unto  them  as  the  Lord  our  God  in  all  things  that 
we  call  upon  him  for  ?  .  .  .  Take  heed  to  thyself,  and  keep 
thy  soul  diligently,  lest  thou  forget  the  things  which  thine 
eyes  have  seen,  and  lest  they  depart  from  thy  heart,  all 
the  days  of  thy  life  ;  but  teach  them  thy  sons  and  thy  sons' 
sons,  specially  the  day  that  thou  stoodest  before  the  Lord 
thy  God  in  Horeb,  when  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Gather 
me  the  people  together,  and  I  -  will  make  them  hear  my 
words,  that  they  may  learn  to  fear  me  all  the  days  that 
they  shall  live  upon  the  earth,  and  that  they  may  teach 
their  children.  .  .  .  And  the  Lord  spake  unto  you  out  of  the 
midst  of  the  fire ;  ye  heard  the  voice  of  the  words,  but  saw 
no  similitude ;  only  ye  heard  a  voice." — Deut.  iv,  7-13. 
Again,  he  says:  "Ask  now  of  the  days  that  are  past, 
which  were  before  thee,  since  the  day  that  God  created 
man  upon  the  earth,  and  ask  from  one  side  of  heaven  unto 
the  other,  whether  there  hath  been  any  such  a  thing  as 
this  great  thing  is,  or  hath  been  heard  like  it.  Did  ever 
people  hear  the  voice  of  God  speaking  out  of  the  midst  of 
fire,  as  thou  hast  heard,  and  live?  Or  hath  God  assayed 
to  go  and  take  him   a  nation   from   the   midst  of  another 


Skc.  X.]  ITS  INAUGURATION.  51 

nation,  by  temptations,  by  signs,  and  by  wonders,  and  by 
war,  and  by  a  mighty  hand,  and  by  a  stretched  out  arm, 
and  by  great  terrors,  according  to  all  that  the  Lord  thy 
God  did  for  you  in  Egypt  before  your  eyes?  Unto  thee 
it  was  showed,  that  thou  mightest  know  that  the  Lord  he 
is  God ;  there  is  none  else  beside  him." — lb.  iv,  32-35. 

The  presence  of  God  with  Israel,  thus  impressively 
manifested,  was  not  casual  or  transient.  The  fires  and 
the  terrors  of  Sinai  were  indeed  withdrawn.  But  the 
tabernacle  of  testimony  was  erected,  and  the  shechinah 
there  revealed  for  the  express  purpose  of  being  a  testimony 
to  Israel  that  God  was  with  them  dwelling  in  their  midst. 
Of  the  services  to  be  there  established,  he  directed  Moses 
that  there  should  be  "  a  continual  burnt-offering  through- 
out your  generations,  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the 
congregation  before  the  Lord,  where  I  will  meet  you  to 
speak  there  unto  thee.  And  there  will  I  meet  with  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  the  tabernacle"  (or  rather,  as  the 
margin,  "Israel")  ''shall  be  sanctified  by  my  glory.  And  I 
will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel,  and  will  be  their 
God."— Ex.  xxix,  42-46. 

Thus  the  gathering  of  Israel  at  Sinai  was  not  a  mere 
congregation  or  assembling  of  the  people  to  each  other, 
but  a  meeting  with  God ;  and  this  fact  is  very  remarkably 
indicated  in  the  Septuagint  Greek.  In  the  description  of 
the  Sinai  scene,  given  in  Deut.  iv,  in  that  version,  the 
tenth  verse  stands  thus:  "The  day  that  thou  stoodest 
before  the  Lord  thy  God  in  Horeb  {il  hemera  tes  eJcklesias), 
in  tJw  day  of  the  assembly,  when  the  Lord  said  to  me  (Ekkle- 
simon  pros  me),  Aasemble  to  me  the  people."  Previous  to 
that  occasion  the  word  ekklesia  is  not  found  in  the  Greek 
Scriptures.  That  day  was,  by  Moses,  habitually  designated 
"the  day  of  the  ekklesia — the  assembly"  (Deut.  ix,  10;  x, 
4;  xviii,  16),  and  the  reason  of  the  designation  is  thus,  by 
the  Greek  translators,  stamped  upon  the  face  of  that  ver- 
sion.    It  was  so  called  because  the  people  on  that  day  met 


52  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Pakt  1L 

with  God,  in  compliance  with  the  command  (Ekkltsiason), 
^^  Assemble  to  me  the  people."  In  accordance  with  the 
special  meaning  to  which  the  word  was  thus  appropriated 
it  is  used  throughout  the  Scriptures.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  Apocrypha  it  occurs  nearly  one  hundred  times, 
and  a  careful  examination  fails  to  discover  an  instance  in 
which  it  i&  used  otherwise,  than  to  designate  Israel  in  their 
sacred  character  as  the  covenant  people  of  God.  In  that 
sense  it  passed  into  the  New  Testament.  In  one  place  it 
is  exceptionally  used  by  the  town  clerk  of  the  Greek  city 
of  Ephesus,  and  by  Luke,  after  him,  in  its  classic  meaning, 
to  designate  an  assembly  of  the  freemen  of  the  city.  (Acts 
xix,  39,  41.)  But  everywhere  else  it  is  employed  in  the 
same  sense  as  in  the  Septuagint.  It  is  thus  applied 
(1)  to  Israel  in  the  wilderness  (Acts  vii,  38),  and  at  the 
temple  (Heb.  ii,  12);  (2)  to  the  rehgious  assemblies  of  the 
Jews  during  the  time  of  Christ's  ministry  (Matt,  xviii,  17), 
and  ever  afterwards,  in  the  Acts,Epistles,  and  Kevelation,  to 
the  New  Testament  Church.  According,  therefore,  to  the 
uniform  usage  of  the  Scriptures,  the  word  is  appropriated  to 
designate  an  assembly  with  God,  and,  in  a  secondary  sense, 
the  people  as  related  to  such  an  assembly.  Such  is  the  des- 
ignation given  to  Israel  as  the  people  of  God  by  covenant 
and  fellowship,  among  whom  he  held  the  communion  of 
mutual  converse,  he  with  them  in  the  words  of  his  testi- 
mony and  the  communications  of  his  grace,  and  they  with 
him  in  all  things  in  which  they  called  upon  him.  (Deut. 
iv,  7.  Compare  Matt,  xviii,  20;-  Acts  x,  33.)  In  the 
assembly  of  Israel,  the  church  of  the  apostles  finds  an 
origin  in  no  wise  unworthy  her  own  lofty  character  and 
office.  Happy  she  when  with  conscious  experience  she  can 
take  to  herself  the  glad  words  of  Israel's  song,  ''There  is 
a  river,  the  streams  whereof  shall  make  glad  the  city  of 
God,  the  holy  place  of  the  tabernacles  of  the  Most  High. 
God  is  in  the  midst  of  her,  she  shall  not  be  moved;  God 
shall  help  her,  and  that  right  early.     .     .     .    The  Lord  of 


Sbc.  X.]  ITS  INAUGURATION.  53 

hosts   is  with    us,   the    God    of  Jacob  is   our   refuge." — 
Psahn  xlvi,  4-7. 

The  followiug  ^Yere  the  essential  features  of  the  consti- 
tution of  the  church  thus  erected: 

1.  Its  fundamental  charter  was  the  covenant,  embrac- 
ing the  ten  commandments,  in  the  reciprocal  terms  which 
have  been  considered  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

2.  The  persons  with  whom  these  terms  were  made,  and 
who  were  comprehended  in  the  society  thereupon  erected, 
were  all  those,  whether  of  Israel  or  the  Gentiles,  together 
with  their  households,  who  made  credible  profession  of 
accepting  the  covenant,  and  were  thereupon  sealed  with 
its  baptismal  seal.  To  this  point  we  shall  presently 
return. 

3.  The  radical  principle  of  organization  was  that  of 
parental  headship  and  family  unity.  The  family  is  the 
divine  original  of  all  human  society,  as  the  parental  office 
is  of  all  human  authority.  Upon  this  basis  was  founded 
the  Abrahamic  covenant,  and  upon  it  was  erected  the  sys- 
tem of  government  for  Israel.  It  was  administered  by 
the  fathers  of  families,  of  houses,  and  of  tribes ;  the  first- 
born son  succeeding  to  his  father  as  head  of  his  house, 
under  the  designation  of  elder.  This  system  was  recog- 
nized in  the  first  commission  of  Moses  from  God,  and  the 
elders,  or  heads  of  houses,  were  united  with  him  in  his 
mission  to  Pharaoh.  (Ex.  iii,  16,  18;  iv,  29.)  To  them 
was  committed  the  ordering  of  the  passover  on  the  night 
of  the  exodus.  (lb.  xii,  21.)  At  Sinai,  before  the  giving 
of  the  covenant,  the  system  was  perfected  in  its  details,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Jethro,  with  the  sanction  of  God.  (Ex. 
xviii,  12-24.)  Immediately  upon  the  sealing  of  the  cove- 
nant seventy  of  the  elders,  who  had  been  previously  assem- 
bled by  the  command  of  God,  went  up,  as  already  stated, 
with  Moses  and  Aaron,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  into  the  mount, 
and  there  celebrated  on  Israel's  behalf  the  feast  of  the 
covenant.     "They  saw  the  God  of  Israel,  and  did  eat  and 


54  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Paet  II. 

drink." — Ex.  xxiv,  1,  9-11.  Afterward,  when  the  cove- 
nant was  renewed  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  the  relation  of 
the  elders  thereto,  in  their  official  capacity,  was  expressly 
stated.  ''Ye  stand  this  day,  all  of  you,  before  the  Lord 
your  God,  your  captains  of  your  tribes,  your  elders  and 
your  officers,  with  all  the  men  of  Israel,  your  little  ones, 
your  wives." — Deut.  xxix,  10. 

Such  were  the  essential  features  of  the  constitution  of 
the  church,  as  ordained  at  Sinai.  To  her,  thus  organ- 
ized, were  given  ordinances  of  testimony,  concerning  which 
a  few  points,  only  are  here  necessary.  Since  she  was  ap- 
pointed simply  to  maintain,  in  her  position  in  the  midst 
of  the  nations,  the  lamp  of  gospel  truth  ever  shining,  until 
the  set  time  should  come  for  sending  it  forth  through  the 
world,  the  ordinances  of  testimony  w-hich  were  intrusted 
to  her  were  adapted  expressly  to  this  office.  They  were : 
(1.)  The  oracles  of  God,  his  written  word,  from  time  to 
time  imparted  through  Moses  and  other  holy  men,  who 
spake  as  they  were  moved  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  (Rom.  iii, 
2;  2  Pet.  i,  21.)  (2.)  The  holy  convocations  of  the  Sab- 
bath days.  (Lev.  xxiii,  3 ;  1  Kings  iv,  23 ;  Acts  xv,  21.) 
(3.)  The  priesthood  and  ritual  service.  (4.)  The  sanctuary 
worship  and  festivals.  (5.)  Public  professions  of  faith,  oc- 
casional and  stated.  (Deut.  xxvi.)  (6.)  Poetic  recitations 
and  psalmody.  (Ex.  xv,  1-21 ;  Deut.  xxxi,  xxxii ;  the 
book  of  Psalms.) 

It  was  with  a  special  view  to  the  witnessing  office  of 
the  church  of  Israel  that  the  ritual  system  was  constructed. 
The  covenant  and  the  ritual  w^ere  testimonies  to  the  better 
covenant  and  the  heavenly  realities  which  belong  to  it.  It 
is  with  this  view  that  the  word  "testimony"  is  so  much 
used  in  designating  them.  Thus  the  Ten  Commandments, 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  covenant,  were  frequently 
designated  "the  testimony."  (Ex.  xxv,  21.)  The  tables 
on  w^hich  they  were  written  were,  in  like  manner,  "the 
tables  of  the  testimony."     They  Avere  kept  in  "  the  ark  of 


S  KC .  X .  ]  ITS  IN  A  UG  URA  TION.  55 

the  testimoDy,"  which  was  iu  "  the  tabernacle  of  the  testi- 
mouy."  In  the  same  way  the  whole  system  of  ordinances 
and  laws  given  to  Israel  is  designated  "the  testimonies  of 
God."  Of  them,  and  the  office  of  the  church  concerning 
them,  the  Psalmist  says:  "He  established  a  testimony  in 
Jacob,  and  appointed  a  law  in  Israel,  which  he  commanded 
our  fathers,  that  they  should  make  them  known  to  their 
children,  that  the  generation  to  come  might  know  them : 
even  the  children  which  should  be  born  ;  who  should  arise 
and  declare  them  to  their  children ;  that  they  might  set 
their  hope  in  God,  and  not  forget  his  works,  but  keep  his 
commandments." — Psalm  Ixxviii,  5-7. 

Respecting  the  ritual  system,  there  are  two  propositions 
which  are  believed  to  be  demonstrable,  but  are  here  pre- 
sented without  argument.  The  jird  is,  that  these  rites 
were  not  dark  forms,  veiling  rather  than  disclosing  a  new 
revelation;  but  were  inscriptions  in  luminous  characters, 
setting  forth  the  doctrines  of  a  faith  w^ell  understood  by 
the  patriarchs  and  fathers  from  the  beginning,  and  from 
them  transmitted  and  known  to  Israel.  Second.  The  ritual 
forms  in  which  the  gospel  was  clothed  in  the  Levitical 
system  were  far  more  suitable  for  the  purposes  of  popular 
instruction  and  world-wide  dissemination  than  would  have 
been  any  conceivable  exposition  of  it  in  writing.  The  art 
of  writing  was  in  its  infancy.  A  written  gospel  would 
have  been,  even  to  Israel,  a  sealed  book;  how  much  more 
to  all  other  people!  The  history  and  laws  were  put  in 
writing  and  kept  at  the  sanctuary  for  the  direction  of  the 
priests  and  magistrates  in  the  performance  of  their  duties, 
the  administration  of  justice,  and  the  instruction  of  Israel. 
But  the  gospel,  for  the  people,  was  clothed  in  forms  which 
required  no  interpreter,  which  meant  the  same  in  every 
language  under  heaven,  and  which  were  calculated,  by 
their  appeals  to  the  imagination  through  the  eye  and  the 
senses,  to  stamp  themselves  indelibly  upon  the  memory  and 
the  affections.     Thus  were  they  eminently  adapted  to  arrest 


56  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

the  attention  and  impress  the  minds  of  strangers,  and  of 
the  young,  for  whom  especially  they  were  designed.  (Ex. 
xii,  26;  xiii,  14;  Deut.  vi,  20;  Josh,  iv,  6,  21;  1  Kings 
viii,  41,  42.) 

The  fact  is  of  an  importance  which  entitles  it  to  dis- 
tinct and  emphatic  mention,  that  the  Aaronic  priesthood 
and  the  ritual  law  were  no  part  of  the  constitution  of  the 
church,  as  it  was  established  by  the  covenant.  They  were 
not  in  existence  when  the  covenant  was  made,  but  were 
ordinances  afterward  given  to  the  church,  as  already  ex- 
istent and  organized.  They  w^ere  bestowed  as  means  of 
fulfilling  her  witnessing  office,  means  adapted  to  the  times 
and  circumstances  of  Israel,  but  subject  to  be  modified,  as 
they  were  in  the  temple  system,  or  to  be  wholly  suspended 
or  set  aside,  without  impairing  the  constitution  of  the 
church  or  the  completeness  and  efficiency  of  its  organiza- 
tion. Not  only  thus  did  the  covenant  precede  the  ritual 
law  and  the  priesthood,  but  when,  forty  years  afterward, 
the  covenant  was  renewed,  and  the  parties  to  it  were  enu- 
merated in  detail,  the  priests  were  altogether  ignored. 
(Deut.  xxix,  10-12.)     They  were  in  no  wise  essential  to  it. 

Section  XI. — T}ie  Terms  of  Membershij^  in  the  Church  of 
Israel. 

With  some  slight  circumstantial  differences,  having  ref- 
erence to  the  difference  in  the  office  of  the  church  under 
the  two  disj^ensations,  the  conditions  of  membership  were 
essentially  the  same  as  propounded  at  Sinai  and  as  pre- 
scribed under  the  gospel.  While  the  spiritual  blessings 
of  the  covenant  were  from  the  beginning  conditioned  upon 
true  faith  and  loving  obedience,  the  privilege  of  member- 
ship in  the  visible  church  was  at  Sinai  bestowed  upon 
those,  with  their  households,  who  made  credible  profession 
of  these  graces,  and  upon  them  only.  On  "  the  day  of 
the  assembly,"  all  the  people  professed  to  take  God  for 
their  God,  and  to  devote  themselves  to  him  as  his  believing 


Sec.  XL]  TERMS  OF  MEMBERSHIP.  hi 

and  obedient  people.  And  as  on  the  days  of  Pentecost, 
so  on  this  occasion,  the  profession  was  accepted,  and  tlieir 
admission  was  sealed  with  baptism ;  although  doubtless,  in 
both  cases,  there  were  false  professors  included  with  the 
true.  AVith  certain  exceptions,  ordained  for  special  reasons 
(Deut.  xxiii,  1-8),  the  conditions  of  membership  were  the 
same  for  the  Gentile  world  as  for  Israel.  The  law  was 
explicit  and  most  emphatic  on  this  point.  "One  ordinance 
shall  be  both  for  you  of  the  congregation  and  also  for  the 
stranger  that  sojourneth  with  you,  an  ordinance  forever  in 
your  generations :  as  ye  are,  so  shall  the  stranger  be  before 
the  Lord.  One  law  and  one  manner  shall  be  for  you  and 
for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  with  you." — Num.  xv,  14- 
16,  and  29 ;  and  see  ix,  14 ;  xix,  10 ;  Ex.  xii,  43-49 ; 
Deut.  xxxi,  12 ;  Josh,  viii,  33,  etc. 

For  eliminating  unworthy  members,  the  means  provided 
in  the  Sinai  ordinances  were  as  abundant  as  those  now  en- 
joyed by  the  church,  and  would  seem  to  have  been  as 
well  adapted  to  the  effectual  securing  of  the  end  proposed. 
They  come  under  three  heads.  (1.)  Certain  offenses  were 
visited  with  the  penalty  of  death  or  of  utter  separation 
from  the  communion  of  Israel.  (Ex.  xxxi,  14;  Num.  ix, 
13,  etc.)  (2.)  The  expenses  incident  to  a  faithful  perform- 
ance of  the  duties  required  of  members  of  the  church  of 
Israel  were  large  and  continual.  Firstfruits,  firstlings,  and 
tithes,  trespass  offerings,  sin  offerings,  freewill  offerings,  and 
other  oblations,  made  up  an  aggregate  which  can  not  have 
fallen  short  of  one-fifth  of  all  the  income  of  Israel,  and 
probably  went  far  beyond  that  amount.  .  The  law  pro- 
vided none  but  moral  means  for  enforcing  these  require- 
ments ;  and  numerous  facts  in  the  history  of  Israel  show 
tliat  by  many  they  were  entirely  neglected.  (Neh.  xiii, 
10-13;  Mai.  iii,  8-10.)  Those  who  thus  withheld  what 
belonged  to  the  Lord  were  self-excluded  from  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  covenant  society,  and  were  "cut  off  from  the 
congregation  (ekkltsia  from  tJie  church)  of  the  Lord."    (3.) 


58  THE   VISIBLE  CHURCH.  [Part  II. 

The  irksome  and  humiliating  nature  of  the  regulations  con- 
cerning uncleanness  and  purifying  were  very  efficient 
means  of  separating  between  the  believing  and  the  pro- 
fane. As  we  shall  presently  see,  occasions  of  uncleanness 
were  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  in  every  house.  These 
required  a  conscientious  watchfulness  and  assiduity,  in 
guarding  against  defilement,  and  in  using  the  appointed 
rites  of  purifying,  which  often  involved  the  interruption 
and  expense  of  journeys  to  the  sanctuary  and  offerings 
there. 

The  communion  of  the  church  of  Israel  thus  consisted 
of  those  only,  with  their  families,  who  added  to  the  obliga- 
tions of  a  public  profession  of  faith,  a  fidehty  to  all  the 
requirements  of  the  law,  its  moral  precepts,  its  ritual  ob- 
servances, its  tithes  and  offerings,  its  rites  of  purifying  and 
its  annual  feasts.  In  a  word,  the  account  given  of  Zacha- 
rias  and  Elizabeth  describes  the  character  required,  in  order 
to  fellowship  in  the  church  of  Israel:  "  Kighteous  before 
God,  walking  in  all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of 
the  Lord  blameless." — Luke  i,  6.  Such,  and  such  only, 
were  the  ckan,  to  whom  the  privileges  of  Israel's  com- 
munion belonged.  To  them  they  were  certified  by  the  seal 
of  baptism. 

Section  XII. — Circumcision  and  Baptism. 

It  is  commonly  assumed  that  baptism  has  come  into 
the  place  and  office  of  circumcision.  This  I  conceive  to 
be  a  mistaken  view,  which  involves  the  whole  subject  in 
confusion.  Circumcision  is  the  distinctive  and  peculiar  seal 
of  the  Abrahamic  covenant.  While  it  is  true,  that  in  that 
covenant,  as  relating  to  the  terms  of  salvation,  all  believ- 
ers were  accounted  as  seed  of  Abraham,  and  heirs  of  the 
promises,  it  is  equally  true  that,  by  its  terms,  peculiar 
blessings  unspeakably  great  were  assured  to  the  seed  of 
the  patriarch  after  the  flesh.  Not  only  was  Christ  to  come 
of  his  flesh ;  not  only  was  the  church  to  be  for  fifteen  centu- 


Skc.  Xn.]  CIRCUMCISION  AND  BAPTISM.  59 

ries  constituted  of  liis  offspriug,  but  Paul  moreover  testifies, 
that  richer  blessings  than  they  have  ever  yet  enjoyed  are  to 
be  bestowed  on  Israel  and  on  the  Gentiles  through  Israel, 
in  the  coming  future:  "If  the  fall  of  them  be  the  riches 
of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing  of  them  the  riches  of  the 
Gentiles,  how  much  more  their  fullness?  .  .  .  For  if  the 
casting  aw^ay  of  them  be  the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what 
shall  the  receiving  of  them  be  but  life  from  the  dead?" — 
Rom.  xi,  12,  15.  This  the  apostle,  futhermore,  puts  upon 
the  ground  that  ' '  the  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  with- 
out repentance." — lb.  29.  It  w^as  with  a  view  to  this  re- 
lation of  the  covenant  to  Abraham's  natural  seed,  that  cir- 
cumcision was  appointed  as  its  seal.  Said  God:  "I  will 
establish  my  covenant  between  me  and  thee  and  thy  seed 
after  thee,  in  their  generations,  for  an  everlasting  covenant, 
to  be  a  God  unto  thee  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee." — Gen. 
xvii,  7.  Hence,  by  circumcision,  the  token  of  the  cove- 
nant was  set  in  the  flesh  of  the  males,  through  whom  the 
descent  is  counted.  So  long,  therefore,  as  the  church  was, 
for  the  divine  purposes,  restricted  to  the  family  of  Israel,  the 
rite  of  circumcision  was  necessary  as  a  prerequisite  condi- 
tion of  admission  to  its  pnvileges,  because  it  w^as  the  seal 
of  incorporation  by  birth  or  adoption  into  that  family. 
But  this  did  not  constitute  admission  into  the  church. 
The  Sinai  covenant  had  its  own  baptismal  seal.  The 
church  consisted,  not  of  Israel,  the  circumcised;  but  only 
of  the  clean  of  Israel.  Of  this,  baptism  was  the  token  and 
seal.  It  hence  resulted  that  when  the  restriction  was  re- 
moved, and  the  gospel  was  given  to  the  Gentiles,  emanci- 
pated from  the  yoke  of  circumcision,  baptism  remained 
unchanged  in  place  or  office,  the  original  and  only  seal  of 
actual  admission  to  the  fellowship  and  privileges  of  the 
church   of  God.     Of  all  this  we  shall  see  more  hereafter. 


60  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 


Part  III. 

ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS=SPRINKLINGS. 

Section  XIIL — Uiiclean  Seven  Days. 

IN  the  laws  of  Moses  there  Avere  two  grades  of  uncleau- 
ness  defined — imcleanness  of  seven  days,  and  uuclean- 
ness  till  the  even.  The  former  was  a  symbol  of  that 
essential  corruption  which  is  in  us  by  nature,  to  which  are 
essential  the  redeeming  blood  of  Christ  and  the  renewing 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  without  which  no  man  can  see  God  in 
peace.  Uncleanness  till  the  even  symbolized  those  casual 
defilements  to  which  God's  renewed  people  are  liable  by 
contact  with  the  evil  of  the  world.  The  ritual,  concerning 
the  uncleanness  of  seven  days,  w^as  designed  to  signalize 
the  light  in  which  man's  apostate  nature,  and  the  deprav- 
ity and  sin  thence  resulting,  appear  in  the  sight  of  a  God 
of  ineffable  holiness.  To  this  conception  the  word  unclean 
was  designed  to  give  expression,  the  intense  meaning  of 
which  is  liable  to  escape  the  casual  reader  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. It  signified,  not  the  mere  external  soiling  of  the 
living  person,  but  death,  corruption,  and  rottenness  within 
the  heart,  the  fermenting  source  of  pollution  poured  forth 
in  the  outward  life.  To  impress  us  with  a  just  sense 
of  the  exceeding  evil  of  this  thing  the  Spirit  employs 
every  variety  of  figure  expressive  of  deformity  and  loath- 
someness. In  the  primitive  faith,  of  which  the  book  of 
Job  is  a  record,  it  is  characterized  in  language  which  is  a 
key-note  to  all  the  Scriptures  on  the  subject.  "Behold  he 
putteth  no  trust  in  his  saints"  (his  holy  angels);  "yea,  the 
heavens  are  not  pure  in  his  sight.  How  much  more  abom- 
inable  and    filthy  is   man,    which   drinketh   iniquity  like 


Skc.  X 1 1 1 .]  UNCLEAN-  SE  VEN  DA  YS.  61 

water." — Job  xv,  15,  16.  Says  the  Psalmist,  *'The  Lord 
looked  dowu  from  heaven  upou  the  children  of  men,  to  see 
if  there  were  any  that  did  understand  and  seek  God. 
They  are  all  gone  aside;  they  are  all  together  become 
filthy."— Psa.  xiv,  3.  Here  the  word  "filthy"  is  in  the 
margin  rendered  "stinking."  It  is  the  same  in  the  origi- 
nal as  in  the  above  place  in  Job,  and  means  the  offensive- 
uess  of  putrefaction.  David,  in  his  penitential  Psalm, 
indicates  his  sense  of  this  radical  evil  of  his  nature. 
**Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity  and  cleanse  me 
from  my  sin.  .  .  .  Behold  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in 
sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me.  Behold  thou  desirest  truth 
in  the  inivard  parts :  and  in  the  hidden  part  thou  shalt  make 
me  to  know  wisdom.  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall 
be  clean;  wash  me  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow.  .  .  . 
Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God;  and  renew  a  right^ 
spirit  within  me." — Psa.  li,  2-10.  Isaiah  and  other  sacred 
writers  represent  the  same  evil  by  the  figures  of  the  vomit 
and  filthiness  of  a  drunken  debauch,  and  by  every  kind  of 
abominable  and  loathsome  thing.  (Isa.  xxviii,  8;  Prov. 
XXX,  12.)  By  the  designation,  unclean,  the  moral  deform- 
ity and  oflfensiveness  of  Satan  and  the  "unclean  spirits," 
his  angels,  are  described.  And  in  the  accounts  of  the 
riches  of  grace  and  glory  in  store  for  the  church,  the 
crowniug  feature  is  the  exclusion  of  the  unclean.  "A 
highway  shall  be  there,  and  a  way;  and  it  shall  be  called, 
The  way  of  holiness;  the  unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it." — 
Isa.  XXXV,  8.  The  church  is  called  upon  for  this  cause 
to  exult:  "Awake,  awake,  put  on  thy  strength,  O  Zion; 
put  on  thy  beautiful  garments,  O  Jerusalem,  the  holy  city; 
fi)r  henceforth  there  shall  no  more  come  into  thee  the  un- 
circumcised  and  the  unclean." — lb.  lii,  1.  And  again,  John, 
in  the  vision  of  the  glory  of  the  new  Jerusalem,  which 
crowns  and  closes  his  revelation,  says  of  her:  "And  there 
shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  any  thing  that  defileth"  (lit- 
erally, "any  thing  unclean"),  "neither. whatsoever  worketh 


62  ADMINISTRRED  BAPTISMS.  [Pakt  III. 

abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie;  but  they  which  are  written 
in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life." — Rev.  xxi,  27. 

For  the  purpose  of  inducing  a  profound  sense  of  this 
evil  and  loathsomeness  of  sin,  as  working  in  the  heart,  the 
ordinances  respecting  the  uncleanness  of  seven  days  were 
appointed,  each  having  its  own  lesson. 

1.  The  birth  of  a  child  was  the  actual  propagation, 
from  the  parents,  of  part  in  the  uncleanness  of  the  apos- 
tate nature.  It  was,  therefore,  attended  with  natural  phe- 
nomena, and  marked  by  ritual  ordinances  Avhich  character- 
ized it,  and  every  function  connected  with  it,  as  uncleau 
and  deiiling.  Emphasis  was  thus  given  to  the  challenge, 
"Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean?  Not 
one." — Job  xiv,  4. 

2.  Running  issues  of  all  kinds  were  appropriated  as 
symbols  of  the  corruption  of  man's  nature,  festering  Avithin, 
and  breaking  forth  in  putrescent  streams  of  depravity  and 
sin  in  the  active  life.     (Ezek.  xvi,  6,  9.) 

3.  Death  is  "the  wages  of  sin"  (Rom.  vi,  23),  and 
physical  death  is  a  terrible  emblem  of  its  loathsome  and 
accursed  nature.  And  as  sin  and  the  curse  are  diffused  to 
Adam's  seed  by  the  very  contagion  of  nature,  this,  their 
symbol,  was  ritually  endowed  wdth  the  same  contagious 
character.  He  that  touched  the  dead  was  reckoned  no 
longer  among  the  living  bat  the  dead.  He  was,  therefore, 
cast  out  from  the  camp,  from  his  family,  the  sanctuary, 
and  the  privileges  of  the  covenant.  To  them  all  he  was 
dead.     He  was  unclean. 

Thus,  as  the  loving  and  bereaved  stood  by  the  couch 
of  death,  gazed  upon  the  face  and  form  once  blooming  in 
health  and  beauty,  and  beheld  the  sightless  and  sunken 
eyes,  the  ghastly  features  and  cadaverous  hue — pledges  of 
corruption  begun — while  the  very  air  of  the  chamber 
seemed  to  breathe  the  cry,  "Unclean!"  as  they  realized 
the  instinctive  recoil  which  love  itself  must  feel  from  the 
very  touch  of  the  departed,  and  felt  as  Abraham,  concern- 


Skc.  XIIL]  UNCLEAN  SEVEN  DAYS,  63 

iiig  the  beloved  Sarah,  the  coDstraint  to  "bury  his  dead 
out  of  his  sight," — as,  iu  all  this,  they  knew  that  these  last 
offices  eveu  must  be  fulfilled  at  the  expense  of  defilement 
and  exclusion  from  the  privileges  of  God's  earthly  courts 
and  tlie  society  of  his  people,  for  seven  days,  they  and  all 
Israel  received  a  lesson  of  divme  instruction  as  to  the  ex- 
ceeding sinfulness  of  sin,  the  wages  of  which  is  death,  its 
loathsomeness  in  God's  sight,  its  contagious  diffusion  and 
power,  and  its  curse,  to  which  human  speech  or  angel  elo- 
quence could  have  added  nothing. 

4.  No  less  impressive  were  the  ordinances  concerning 
leprosy.  The  name  designated  a  class  of  diseases,  some  of 
which  w^ould  appear  to  have  been  altogether  miraculous  in 
their  origin,  and  peculiar  in  their  symptoms,  while  others 
were  attributable  to  natural  causes.  The  disease  was  pe- 
culiar for  the  shocking  and  loathsome  appearance  of  its 
victim,  its  poisoning  the  blood  and  pervading  the  whole 
body,  and  its  incurable  and  inevitably  deadly  nature.  It 
was,  therefore,  employed  by  God  as,  at  once,  an  extraord- 
inary punishment  of  sin,  and  a  most  fitting  symbol  of  it,  as 
seated  in  the  heart  and  nature  of  man,  and  pervading  and 
corrupting  his  whole  being.  (Num.  xii,  10 ;  2  Kings  v, 
27  ;  2  Chr.  xxvi,  20.)  The  leper  was  accounted  as  one  dead 
(Num.  xii,  12),  and,  therefore,  excluded  from  his  family, 
from  the  congregation  and  ordinances  at  the  sanctuary,  and 
from  the  very  camp  of  Israel,  where  the  living  God  walked. 
(Num.  V,  2  ;  xii,  14.)  Thus,  outcast  from  the  abodes  of  men 
and  the  house  of  God,  "  the  leper  in  whom  the  plague  is,  his 
clothes  shall  be  rent,  and  his  head  bare,  and  he  shall  put  a 
covering  upon  his  upper  lip,  and  shall  cry.  Unclean !  Un- 
clean! All  the  days  wherein  the  plague  shall  be  in  him,  he 
shall  be  defiled;  he  is  unclean  ;  he  shall  dwell  alone;  without 
the  camp  shall  be  his  habitation." — Lev.  xiii,  45,  4G. 
How  dreadful  the  figure  thus  presented  to  the  senses  of 
Israel,  of  the  loathsomeness  of  sin  in  God's  sight,  and  of 
its  ruinous  effects  upon  the  sinner !     The  person  offensive 


64  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

with  scabs  and  sores,  the  rent  garments,  the  uncovered 
head,  the  waihng  cry, ''  Unclean  !  Unclean !"  while  the  ex- 
clusion from  the  house  of  God,  and  from  the  abodes  of 
men,  and  the  covered  lip,  proclaimed  to  Israel  that  the 
spiritual  leper,  yet  in  his  sins,  brings  danger  to  his  fellow- 
men  with  his  very  presence,  and  is  an  offense  and  loathing 
to  God,  before  the  eyes  of  whose  purity  he  may  not  ven- 
ture to  come,  save  through  the  cleansing  blood  and  Spirit 
of  Christ.  Hence,  the  cry  of  Isaiah,  when  he  beheld  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  :  "  Woe  is  me  !  for  I  am  undone,  because 
I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst  of  a 
people  of  unclean  lips ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King, 
the  Lord  of  hosts."  And  hence,  the  coal  of  fire  from  off 
the  altar  of  atonement,  and  the  seraph's  assurance,  "  Lo, 
this  hath  touched  thy  lips ;  and  thine  iniquity  is  taken 
away,  and  thy  sin  purged." — Isa.  vi,  5-7. 

Thus,  every  way,  under  the  idea  of  indwelling  defile- 
ment, was  sin  and  its  source  in  man's  corrupted  nature  held 
up  to  Israel  as  loathsome  in  itself,  propagated  to  the  race 
and  infecting  all,  defiling  in  its  contact,  deadly  in  its  in- 
dwelling power,  and  abhorrent  to  the  eyes  of  God. 

Four  circumstances  in  the  ritual  on  these  defilements 
are  peculiar  and  characteristic : 

1.  The  first  of  these  exhibits  a  broad  and  fundamental 
contrast  between  these  defilements  and  those  which  con- 
tinued only  till  the  even.  The  latter,  as  already  intimated, 
presented  the  conception  of  an  outward  soiling  of  the  liv- 
ing person.  But  the  uncleanness  of  seven  days  exhibited 
the  idea,  not  of  surface  defilement  of  the  living,  but  of  the 
loathsomeness  and  pollution  of  the  dead  and  decaying  car- 
cass, pouring  out  its  own  corruption,  and  infecting  all 
around  with  its  unclean  and  abhorrent  presence, — a  pollu- 
tion which  no  extrinsic  or  surface  washing  can  ever  cleanse. 
2.  The  defilement  was  for  seven  days.  God's  work  of 
creation  ended  in  the  rest  of  the  seventh  day.  That  day 
was  hence  appropriated  as  a  type  of  the  final  rest  of  Christ 


Sec.  XIII.]  UNCLEAN  SEVEN  DAYS.  65 

and  his  people  upon  the  completed  work  of  redemptiou. 
Hence,  the  argument  of  Paul:  "For  he  spake  of  the 
seventh  day  on  this  wise,  And  God  did  rest  the  seventh 
day  from  all  his  works.  And  in  this  place  again,  If  they 
shall  enter  into  my  rest.  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest 
for  the  people  of  God."— Heb.  iv,  4-9.  "A  rest:"  liter- 
ally, as  in  the  margin,  ''a  keeping  of  a  Sabbath,"  or,  "a 
Sabbatism."  But  the  Sabbath  thus  reserved  for  God's 
people,  coincides  with  "  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition 
of  ungodly  men."  Hence,  a  seven  da3's'  uncleanness  was 
typical  of  such  a  corruption  of  nature  as  is  essential  and, 
therefore,  persistent  to  the  end ;  and  the  exclusion  of  the 
defiled  from  the  camp  and  the  sanctuary  signified  the  sen- 
tence of  the  judgment  of  the  last  day,  when  those  w^hose 
natures  are  unrenewed,  and  whose  sins  are  unpurged  will 
be  excluded  from  the  Sabbath  of  redemption  and  from  the 
new  Jerusalem,  and  remain  finally  under  the  woe  of  the  sec- 
ond death  :  "  He  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still.  .  .  . 
For  without  are  dogs  and  sorcerers,  and  whoremongers, 
and  murderers,  and  idolaters,  and  whosoever  loveth  and 
maketh  a  lie." — Rev.  xxii,  11,  15. 

3.  The  defilement  was  contagious.  If  the  unclean  for 
seven  days  touched  a  clean  person,  the  latter  was  thereby 
defiled  until  the  even.  For,  such  is  the  inveteracy  of  this 
native  corruption  of  the  race  that  God's  people  are  liable 
to  defilement  from  every  intercourse  and  contact  with  the 
world, — a  defilement,  however,  which  they  will  leave  be- 
hind them  when  the  day  of  earthly  life  is  ended.  There- 
fore, "  Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  se|)arate, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing,  and  I  will 
receive  you." — 2  Cor.  vi,  17. 

4.  This  seven  days'  uncleanness  could  not  be  purified 
without  sacrificial  rites,  and  water  sprinkled  by  the  hand 
of  one  that  was  clean..  For  nothing  but  the  atoning  merits 
of  Christ's  one  oflTering,  and  the  Spirit  of  life  which  he 
sheds  down  upon    his   people,  can  enter  and  cleanse  our 

G 


66  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

defiled  nature,  and  fit  us  for  admission  to  the  presence  of 
God,  or  for  part  in  the  New  Jerusalem.  All  this  will  more 
fully  appear  as  we  proceed  to  notice  the  rites  of  purifying 
appointed  for  the  several  kinds  of  this  uncleanness,  re- 
spectively. 

Section  XIV.  —  T/ie  Baptism  of  a  healed  Leper. 

The  rites  appointed  for  the  purifying  of  a  healed  leper 
come  under  two  heads, — those  administered  by  the  priest, 
and  those  performed  by  the  person  himself.  When  a  leper 
was  healed,  he  was  first  inspected  by  the  priest,  who  went 
forth  to  him  to  ascertain  that  the  healing  was  real,  and 
the  disease  eradicated.  This  being  ascertained,  the  priest 
took  two  clean  birds,  and  had  one  of  them  killed  and  its 
blood  caught  in  an  earthen  vessel,  with  running  water. 
He  then  took  the  remaining  bird,  alive,  with  cedar  wood, 
scarlet,  and  hyssop,  and  dipped  all  together  in  the  blood 
and  water;  ''and  he  shall  sprinkle  upon  him  that  is  to  be 
cleansed  from  the  leprosy  seven  times,  and  shall  pronosnce 
him  clean,  and  shall  let  the  living  bird  loose  into  the  open 
field." — Lev.  xiv,  7. 

The  rite  which  thus  ended  by  the  official  decree  of  the 
priest,  ''He  is  clean,"  completed  the  purification,  properly 
so  called.  The  man  is  now  clean.  The  remaining  ordi- 
nances were  expressive  of  duties  and  2:)rivileges  proper  to 
one  who  is  cleansed  and  restored  to  the  commonwealth  of 
Israel,  and  the  communion  of  God's  house.  First  of  these 
he  was  required  to  "  wash  his  clothes,  and  shave  ofi*  all  his 
hair,  and  wash  himself  in  water,  that  he  may  be  clean." — 
lb.,  vs.  8.  He  was  now  admitted  to  the  camp,  but  must 
not  yet  enter  his  own  tent,  nor  come  to  the  tabernacle  for 
seven  days.  On  the  seventh  day  he  was  again  required  to 
shave  off  all  his  hair,  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  his  flesh ; 
and  "he  shall  be  clean."— Vs.  9. 

Now,  on  the  eighth  day,  he  came  to  the  sanctuary, 
bringing  a  sacrifice  of  a  trespass  oflfering,  a  sin  ofiering,  and 


Skc.  XIV.]         BAPTISM  OF  HEALED  LEPERS.  67 

a  burnt  offering.  The  rites  attendant  upon  these  offerings 
completed  the  ceremonial.  Thenceforth,  the  leper  resumed 
all  the  privileges  of  a  son  of  Israel,  in  his  family,  in  the 
the  congregation,  and  at  the  sanctuary. 

The  general  signification  of  these  ordinances  is  evident. 
The  priest,  by  whom  alone  the  cleansing  rites  could  be 
administered,  was  the  official  representative  of  our  great 
high-priest,  Christ  Jesus.  The  two  birds  were  wdth  the 
priest  a  complex  type  of  him  who  offered  himself  without 
spot  to  God,  who  was  dead  and  is  alive  for  evermore,  and 
by  the  merits  of  Avhose  blood  and  the  power  of  whose 
Spirit  remission  of  sins  and  the  new  life  of  holiness  are 
given  to  men.  The  first  self-washing  symbolized  the  duty 
of  the  redeemed  to  turn  from  their  old  ways  and  walk  in 
holiness.  The  continued  exclusion,  for  seven  days,  from  his 
house  and  the  sanctuary  was  a  testimony  that  for  the 
present  we  are  pilgrims  and  strangers,  and  that  only  at 
the  end  of  earth's  trials  and  purgations  can  we  enter  our 
"  house  which  is  from  heaven."  The  seventh  day's  W' ash- 
ing indicated  the  final  putting  off  of  all  evil  in  the  resur- 
rection ;  and  the  offerings  of  the  eighth  represented  the 
way  whereby,  in  the  regeneration,  God's  redeemed  people 
shall  have  access  to  his  presence  and  communion  with  him, 
through  the  blood  of  Jesus. 

We  are  now  able  to  understand  why  the  cleansing  of 
the  healed  leper  was  thus  separately  ordered,  and  not  in- 
cluded in  the  provision  which  we  shall  presently  see  was 
made,  in  common,  for  all  other  cases  of  seven  days'  un- 
cleanness.  The  extraordinary  and  frequently  supernatural 
character  of  both  the  disorder  and  its  cure  rendered  it 
proper  and  necessary  to  take  it  out  of  the  category  of  or- 
dinary uncleannesses,  and  place  it  under  the  immediate 
jurisdiction  of  the  priests.  This  M^as  necessary,  alike,  in 
order  to  a  judicial  determination  at  first  as  to  the  existence 
of  the  leprosy,  and  afterward  as  to  the  cure.  And  the 
priestly  administration  of  the  rites  of  cleansing  was  equally 


68  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

important,   as    constituting    an    official   and   authoritative 
proclamation  of  the  healing  and  restoration  of  the  leper. 

Section  XV. — Baptism  of  those  defiled  by  iJie  Dead. 

The  purification  of  the  leper  must  have  been  of  rare 
occurrence.  All  the  facts  and  indications  of  the  Scriptures 
tend  to  the  conclusion  that,  except  by  miraculous  agency, 
tlie  disease  ^vas  incurable.  The  baptism  of  Israel  at  Sinai 
was  extraordinary  in  its  nature  and  circumstances,  and 
could  not  have  been  repeated  except  in  circumstances 
equally  remarkable,  such  as  that  when,  in  the  plains  of 
Moab,  the  covenant  was  renewed  with  the  new  generation, 
which  had  risen  up  to  take  the  place  of  those  who  perished 
in  the  wilderness.  (Deut.  xxix,  1.)  But  of  that  transac- 
tion the  particulars  are  not  recorded.  In  the  water  of 
separation,  provision  w^as  made  for  an  ordinary  rite,  essen- 
tially the  same,  in  its  nature,  mode,  and  meaning,  as  the 
Sinai  baptism ;  and  so  ordered  as  to  serve  as  a  continual 
memorial  and  repetition  of  it,  and  reiteration  of  the  prom- 
ises and  instructions  therein  embodied.  This  rite  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  cleansing  of  defilements  of  daily  occur- 
rence, and  was  maintained  through  all  the  after  history 
of  Israel,  until  the  time  of  Christ,  and  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  It  was  known  to  the  Jews  by  the  name  of 
baptism. 

In  preparation  for  this  rite,  a  red  heifer  without  blem- 
ish was  chosen  by  the  priest,  and  slain  without  the  camp, 
whence  the  priest  sprinkled  the  blood  toward  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  seven  times.  The  en- 
tire heifer  w^as  then  burned,  while  the  priest  cast  cedar 
wood,  hyssop,  and  scarlet  into  the  burning.  The  ashes 
were  gathered  and  laid  up  in  a  clean  place,  without  the 
camp.  (Num.  xix,  2-10.)  They  were  to  be  "kept  for 
the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  for  a  water  of 
separation." — lb.  9.  By  the  phrase,  "  water  of  separa- 
tion," is   not  meant  a  water  to   cause  separation,  but  a 


Sec.  XVI.]  BAPTISM  FROM  ISSUES.  69 

remedy  for  it.     They  were,  as  Zecliariali  expresses  it,  ''Jot 
sin  and /or  uncleanness." — Zecli.  xiii,  1. 

The  primary  case  for  Avhich  they  were  provided  was 
that  of  defilement  by  tlie  dead.  (Num.  xix,  17,  18.) 
Whoever  touched  a  dead  body  or  bone  of  a  man,  or  a 
grave,  was  defiled  thereby,  as  was  the  tent  or  house  where 
the  body  lay,  and  the  furniture  and  utensils  that  were  in 
it.  For  the  purifying  of  these,  some  of  the  ashes  of  the 
heifer  were  mingled,  in  an  earthen  vessel,  with  running 
water.  A  clean  person  then  took  a  bush  of  hyssop,  and, 
dipping  it  into  the  water,  sprinkled  it  on  the  persons  or 
things  to  be  cleansed.  This  was  done  on  the  third  day, 
and  repeated  on  the  seventh.  "And  on  the  seventh  day 
he  shall  purify  himself,  and  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe 
himself  in  water,  and  shall  be  clean  at  even." — Num.  xix, 
2-19.  Thus,  as  in  the  case  of  the  leper,  the  rites  for  de- 
filement by  the  dead  were  divided  into  two  categories, — 
those  administered  by  the  priest  or  a  clean  person  acting 
officially,  and  those  performed  by  the  subject  himself.  The 
importance  of  the  distinction  thus  made  between  rites  ad- 
ministered and  those  self-performed  is  worthy  of  repeated 
and  emphatic  notice.  The  former  symbolized  Christ's  and 
the  Spirit's  agency ;  the  latter,  the  active  personal  obedi- 
ence and  holiness  of  the  believer's  life. 

It  appears  from  the  rabbins  that,  at  least  during  the 
later  period  of  JcAvish  history,  the  purifying  of  persons 
was,  whenever  practicable,  performed  at  Jerusalem,  by  the 
hand  of  a  priest,  and  with  water  drawn  from  the  pool  of 
Siloam,  which  flowed  fri)m  the  foot  of  the  temple  mount. 
For  the  purifying  of  houses  and  other  things,  the  ashes 
were  sent  throughout  the  land,  and  the  rites  performed 
where  the  uncleanness  was  contracted. 

Section  XVI. — Purifying  from  Issues. 

The  remaining  forms  of  major  uncleanness  are  those  of 
childbirth,  and  of  issues.      (Lev.  xii,  2;  xv,  13,  19,  20, 


70  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part   III 

25.)  The  places  here  referred  to  in  the  book  of  Leviticus 
contain  the  only  directions  as  to  purifying  which  specify 
these  cases.  Were  our  attention  confined  to  those  chap- 
ters, we  might  imagine  that  for  these  defilements  there 
were  no  purifyings  required,  except  in  one  single  case,  a 
self- washing  for  men  healed  of  issues.  But  there  are  sev- 
eral things  which  suggest  the  propriety  of  looking  farther 
before  accepting  that  conclusion. 

1.  The  instructions  given  in  these  places,  if  taken  by 
themselves  are  incongruous.  Thus,  a  man  cured  of  an 
issue  w^as  directed  to  "number  to  himself  seven  days  for 
his  cleansing,  and  wash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  his  flesh  in 
running  water,  and  he  shall  be  clean."  But  of  a  woman 
it  is  said:  ''She  shall  number  to  herself  seven  days,  and 
after  that  she  shall  be  clean." — ^Lev.  xv,  13,  28.  In  neither 
of  the  cases  of  female  defilement  is  there  mention  made  of 
any  purifying  rites  whatever,  although  the  seven  days  of 
purifying  are  specified  in  each  of  them.  And  yet  if  any 
one  had  but  touched  the  bed,  or  the  seat  of  a  woman  so 
defiled,  he  must  "w^ash  his  clothes,  and  bathe  his  flesh,  and 
be  unclean  until  the  even." — Vs.  19-23.  I  do  not  here  ac- 
count as  rites  of  purifying  the  offerings  which  in  each  case 
the  parties,  after  being  cleansed,  were  required  to  make  at 
the  sanctuary.  In  those  offerings  they  claimed  and  exer- 
cised the  privilege  of  communion  at  his  table  with  the  God 
of  Israel — the  highest  privilege  of  the  clean.  Admission  to 
it  was,  therefore,  a  formal  and  conclusive  attestation  to 
them  as  already  clean. 

2.  The  manifest  analogy  between  these  defilements, 
and  those  arising  from  leprosy  and  contact  with  the  dead, 
indicates  the  necessity  of  analogous  rites  of  purifying  for 
them  all.  The  intimacy  of  relation  between  their  several 
meanings  we  have  seen.  It  is  attested  by  the  whole  tenor 
of  Scripture.  The  same  period  of  seven  days  marked 
them  all — a  period  emphasized,  even  where  the  uncleanness 
was  prolonged  to   thirty-three  and  sixty-six  days.     (Lev. 


Src.  XVI.]  BAPT/SM  FROM  ISSUES.  71 

xii,  2,  4,  5.)  They  all  were  iuclucled  iu  oue  decree  of  ex- 
clusion from  the  camp,  except  for  manifest  reasons — women 
in  childbed.  (Num.  v,  2.)  At  the  end  of  the  seven  days 
of  purifying,  when  they  were  clean,  offerings  were  to  be 
made  at  the  sanctuary  by  the  leper,  the  Nazarite  defiled 
by  the  dead,  and  all  the  others,  except  those  purged  from 
the  ordinary  defilement  by  the  dead.  And  the  offerings 
were  in  each  case  essentially  the  same.  The  leper,  if  able, 
brought  three  lambs,  one  for  a  trespass-offering,  the  second 
for  a  sin-offering,  and  the  third  for  a  burnt-offering.  If 
lie  was  poor,  he  brought  one  lamb  for  a  trespass-offering, 
and  two  young  turtles  or  pigeons,  one  for  a  sin-offering, 
and  the  other  for  a  burnt-offering.  This  offering  of  a 
lamb  and  two  turtles  was  the  same  that  was  required  of 
a  Nazarite,  defiled  by  the  dead,  after  his  cleansing.  (Num. 
vi,  10,  12.)  The  two  turtles,  or  pigeons,  were  alone  re- 
quired of  those  defiled  by  childbirth,  or  by  issues,  one  for 
a  sin-oflTering,  and  the  other  for  a  burnt-offering.  Thus, 
the  only  difference  in  these  observances  was  the  trespass- 
offering  which  was,  for  evident  reasons,  required  of  the 
Nazarite  and  the  leper,  and  of  them  only.  The  Nazarite, 
although  by  an  involuntary  act,  had  trespassed  in  profaning 
the  head  of  his  consecration.  (Num.  vi,  9.)  As  to  the 
leper,  his  disease  seems  usually,  if  not  always,  to  have  been 
a  special  divine  retribution  for  some  specific  and  aggra- 
vated offense,  for  which,  therefore,  upon  his  cleansing,  a 
trespass-offering  was  required.  (Num.  xii,  10 ;  2  Kings  v, 
27;  2  Chron.  xxvi,  19.) 

3.  The  supposition  that  these  defilements  all  did  not 
call  for  rites  of  purifying  essentially  the  same  in  each  case, 
would  involve  incongruity  and  contradiction  in  the  testi- 
monies uttered  by  them  severally.  That  they  all  were 
typical  of  human  depravity  in  its  different  aspects  can  not 
be  questioned  ])y  any  one  who  will  candidly  study  the 
Scriptures,  and  especially  the  Levitical  and  prophetic  books 
on  the  subject.     But,  upon   the  supposition  in  question, 


72  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

their  several  representations  as  to  the  remedy  are  irrecon- 
cilable. For  leprosy,  and  those  dehled  with  the  dead,  the 
rites  of  purifying  declare  that  there  is  cleansing  for  man's 
moral  defilement  nowhere  but  in  the  blood  and  Spirit  of 
Christ.  But  the  rites  for  cleansing  a  man  defiled  with  an 
issue  would  proclaim  our  own  Avorks  and  righteousness  all- 
sufficient;  whilst  the  silence  of  the  law  as  to  any  rites 
whatever  for  women,  in  any  form  of  issue,  would  declare 
no  cleansing  necessary,  but  that  time  and  death  would 
purify  all.  Thus,  three  several  testimonies,  each  contra- 
dictory to  the  others,  are  incorporated  in  the  ordinances, 
if  complete  in  those  chapters. 

The  key  to  these  difficulties  is  found  in  the  general 
character  and  intent  of  the  law  .concerning  the  water  of 
separation.  That  law  was  the  latest  that  was  given  on 
the  subject  of  purifyings,  and  is,  therefore,  not  expressly  re- 
ferred to  in  the  earlier  regulations  wdiich  have  been  under 
examination,  although  the  divine  Law^giver  intended  the 
later  statute  to  fill  up  and  supplement  those  wdiicli  had 
gone  before.  Of  this  there  is  a  very  plain  indication  in 
the  ordinances  respecting  the  Nazarite.  "If  any  man  die 
suddenly  by  him,  and  he  hath  defiled  the  head  of  his  con- 
secration, then  he  shall  shave  his  head  in  the  day  of  his 
cleansing;  on  the  seventh  day  shall  he  shave  it." — Num. 
vi,  9.  Here  the  defiling  effect  of  contact  with  the  dead  is 
not  declared,  but  assumed;  although  the  law  to  that  pur- 
pose was  not  yet  given.  It  is  left  to  the  subsequent  ordi- 
nance (Num.  xix)  to  prescribe  the  rites  of  cleansing,  which 
are  here,  as  in  the  rules  concerning  issues,  alluded  to,  but 
not  stated. 

Those  rites  might  seem  to  relate  only  to  the  case  of  de- 
filement by  the  dead.  But  among  the  directions  as  to  them, 
there  is  one  which  is  unequivocal  and  comprehensive.  "The 
man  that  shall  be  unclean  and  shall  not  purify  himself, 
that  soul  shall  be  cut  oflT  from  among  the  congregation, 
because  he  hath  defiled  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord ;   the 


Skc.  XVI.]  BAPTISM  FROM  ISSUES.  73 

ater  of  separation  hath  not  been  sprinkled  on  him.  He 
is  unclean." — ^Xum.  xix,  20.  Here  is  no  limitation  nor 
exception  of  any  kind.  '*  The  man  that  is  unclean;"  un- 
clean, from  whatever  cause.  Of  all  such,  we  are  here  cer- 
tified that  no  lapse  of  time  will  bring  cleansing.  He  must 
be  purified  before  he  can  be  clean.  Till  that  is  accom- 
plished, his  presence  is  a  profanation  of  the  sanctuarr.  It 
is,  moreover,  here  declared  that  the  one  onlj  mode  of 
cleansing  for  all  such  was  the  water  of  separation,  sprinkled 
according  to  the  law.  That  this  is  a  true  interpretation,  is 
confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  Philo,  of  Alexandria,  a  Jew- 
ish writer  of  the  highest  reputation,  contemporary  with  the 
apostles.  Giving  an  account  of  the  Levitical  law,  he  dis- 
tinguishes between  defilements  of  the  soul  and  of  the  body; 
by  the  latter  meaning,  ritual  defilements.  Of  them,  he 
says,  in  unrestricted  terms,  that  the  water  of  separation 
was  appointed  for  puritying  from  those  things  by  which  a 
body  is  ritually  defiled.* 

"We  shall  presently  see  one  notable  example  of  this  com- 
prehensive interpretation  of  the  law,  in  the  case  of  the 
daughters  of  Midian.     Their  need  of  the  rites  of  purifying 
did  not  arise  out  of  any  of  the  categories  specified  in  the 
laws  which  we  have  examined.     They  were  unclean,  be- 
cause they  were  idolatrous  Gentiles  (Compare  Acts  xv,  9)  ; 
aud  were  purified  with   the  water  of  separation,   because 
at  was  the  general  provision  made  for  the  unclean.    This 
further  illustrated  in  the  fact  that  all  the  spoil  taken  at 
e  same  time  was  also  purified  with  this  same  water  of 
paration.     (Xum.  xxxi,  19-24.) 
A  fiict  remains,  which  is  conclusive  of  the  present  point. 
It  is  the  remarkable  name  by  which  the  purifying  elements 
are  designated.     "  It  shall  be  kept  for  the  congregation  of 
the  children  of  Israel  for  a  water  of  (nidda)   separation." 
This  wor«i,  nidda,  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  twenty-three 
times.     Its  radical  idea  is  exclusion,  banishment.     Hence, 

*  Below  p.  175. 


74  ADMh\USTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Paiit  III. 

the  name  of  the  land  to  whicli  Cain  was  driven.  "Cain 
went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  dwelt  in  the 
land  of  Nod,"  that  is,  "  the  land  of  banishment." — Gen.  iv, 

16.  Under  this  general  idea  of  exclusion,  the  particular 
form,  nidda,  is  appropriated  to  the  separating  or  putting 
away  of  a  wife  from  her  husband,  and  to  the  uncleannesses 
which  gave  occasion  to  such  separation.  And  inasmuch  as 
God  is  the  husband  of  his  church,  the  same  word  is  used 
to  designate  those  apostasies  and  sins  which  separate  her 
from  his  favor  and  communion.    (Lam.  i,  17  ;  Ezek.  xxxvi, 

17,  etc.)  In  the  tw^o  chapters  in  Leviticus,  which  present 
the  law  respecting  defilement  by  childbirth  and  by  issues 
(Lev.  xii  and  xv),  the  word  occurs  no  less  than  eleven 
times.  Those  who  were  thus  defiled  w^ere,  nidda,  "put 
apart,"  "separated."  Six  times,  in  the  directions  as  to  the 
ashes  of  the  red  heifer,  the  water  is  called  ' '  a  water  of 
^idda."— Num.  xix,  9,  13,  20,  21,  21;  xxxi,  23.  Once, 
again,  the  word  is  used  in  the  same  way  by  the  prophet 
Zechariah.  (Zech.  xiii,  1.)  "A  fountain  for  sin  and  for 
nidda"  Elsewdiere  it  always  has  distinct  reference,  literal 
or  figurative,  to  the  causes  of  separation  here  indicated ; 
whilst  it  is  worthy  of  special  mention,  that  it  never  desig- 
nates defilement  by  the  dead. 

The  conclusion  implied  in  these  facts  becomes  a  demon- 
stration wdien  we  observe  that  in  the  figurative  language 
of  the  prophets,  the  defilement  of  nidda  is  expressly  re- 
ferred to  as  requiring  the  sprinkled  water  of  purifying.  In 
Ezekiel  (xvi,  1-14)  God's  gracious  dealings  with  Israel 
at  the  beginning  are  described  under  the  figure  of  the 
marriage  tie.  "I  sware  unto  thee,  and  entered  into  a  cov- 
enant with  thee,  and  thou  becamest  mine.  Then  washed 
I  thee  w4th  water;  yea,  I  thoroughly  washed  aw^ay  thy 
blood  from  thee,  and  I  anointed  thee  with  oil." — vs.  8,  9. 
"I  thoroughly  washed  away."  The  verb  in  the  original 
is  shataph,  which  will  be  critically  examined  in  another 
place.     It  signifies  such  action  as  of  a  dashing  rain.     In 


Sue.  XVI.]  BAPTISM  FROM  ISSUES.  75 

another  place  (Ezek,  xxxvi,  17-26)^  the  Lord,  under  the 
same  ligure,  describes  the  subsequent  transgressions  of  Is- 
rael: "Their  ^vay  \vas  before  me  as  nidda." — v.  17.  Be- 
cause of  this,  God  declares  that  he  scattered  them  among 
the  nations.  But,  says  the  Lord,  "I  will  take  you  from 
among  the  heathen  and  gather  you  out  of  all  countries, 
and  will  bring  you  into  your  o\Yn  land.  Then  will  I 
sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  from 
all  your  filthiness  and  from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse 
you.  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit 
will  I  put  within  you." — vs.  24-26. 

So,  says  the  Spirit  by  Zechariah:  "In  that  day  there 
shall  be  a  fountain  (a  flowing  spring)  opened  to  the 
house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for 
sin  and  for  nklda." — Zech.  xiii,  1.  Nidda,  then,  signi- 
fied a  defilement  for  which  that  fountain  was  necessary; 
and  to  imagine  the  ritual  uncleanness  of  nidda  to  have 
been  healed  without  ritual  water  of  purifying,  would  be  to 
suppose  the  ordinance  to  contradict  the  doctrine  of  the 
prophets. 

From   these  passages  it  appears :    (L)  That  the  defile- 
ment  of  nidda   was   a   figure    representing    the   sins   and 
apostasies  of  Israel,  viewed  as  God's  covenant  people,  his 
married  wife.     (2.)    That   the   sprinkling  of  water  is  the 
ordinance   divinely   chosen   to   represent  the  mode  of  the 
Spirit's  agency  in  cleansing  from  these  offenses.     (3.)  That 
this  defilement  and  the  water  of  nidda  were  so  intimately 
associated  with  each  other  in  the  usage  of  Israel  as  to  serve 
the   prophets   for   a   familiar   illustration  of  the    gracious 
purposes  of  God,  indicated  in  the  texts.     If  the  figure  of 
speech  used  by  the  prophet  is  the  proper  one  for  illustrat- 
ing his  doctrine  in  words,  the  water  of  nidda  sprinkled  on 
the  unclean  was  the  appropriate  form  by  which  to  express 
it  in  ritual  action.     When,  tliorefore,  in  the  light  of  these 
facts,  we  read  the  law  tliat  the  ashes  of  the  heifer  "shall 
be  kept  for  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel  for 


76  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Pakt  III. 

a  water  of  nidda,"  tlie  conclusioD  is  irresistible,  that  those 
defiled  with  nidda  Avere  to  be  purified  with  that  water. 
And  when  to  this  we  add  the  further  declaration  concern- 
ing "the  man  that  is  unclean/'  and  is  not  sprinkled  with 
it,  and  see  it  illustrated  by  the  case  of  the  Midianite  chil- 
dren, the  further  conclusion  is  equally  evident  that,  excej)t 
the  peculiar  case  of  the  leper,  the  water  of  separation  was 
designed  for  all  classes  of  seven  days'  defilement.  To  all 
others  who  were  in  a  state  of  ritual  separation  from  the 
communion  of  Israel,  it  was  essential  in  order  to  being 
restored. 

Section  XVII. — TJie  Baptism  of  Proselytes. 

Maimonides  was  a  learned  Spanish  Jew  of  the  twelfth 
century.  He  wrote  large  commentaries  upon  the  institu- 
tions and  laws  of  Israel.  Concerning  the  reception  of 
proselytes,  he  is  quoted  as  saying:  "Circumcision,  bap- 
tism, and  a  free-will  oflTering,  were  required  of  any  Gentile 
who  desired  to  enter  into  the  covenant,  to  take  refuge  un- 
der the  wrings  of  the  divine  majesty,  and  assume  the  yoke^ 
of  the  law;  but  if  it  was  a  woman,  baptism  and  an  offer- 
ing were  required,  as  we  read,  '  One  law  and  one  manner 
shall  be  for  you  and  for  the  stranger  that  sojourueth  with 
you.' — ISTum.  XV,  16.  But  what  was  the  law  'for  you'? 
The  covenant  was  confirmed  by  circumcision  and  baptism 
and  free-will  offerings.  So  was  it  confirmed  with  the 
stranger,  with  these  three.  But  now,  that  no  oblations 
are  made  [the  temple  being  destroyed],  circumcision  and 
baptism  are  required.  But  after  the  temj^le  shall  have 
been  restored,  then  also  it  will  be  necessary  that  an  offering 
be  made.  A  stranger  who  is  circumcised  and  not  baptized, 
or  baptized  and  not  circumcised,  is  not  called  a  proselyte 
till  both  are  performed."*  Various  similar  statements  are 
frequently   quoted  from   the  same   writer,   and   from   the 

*  Maimonides,  Issure  Biah,  Perek  13,  in  Lightfoot,  Harmo- 
nia  Evang.  in  Joan  i,  25. 


Sec.  XVII.]  BAPTISM  OF  PROSELYTES.  77 

Talmud.     Respecting  them  the  folio wiug  points  are  to  be 
noticed : 

1.  The  Hebrew  word  which  is  used  by  Maimonides  and 
the  Talmudic  writers,  and  is  here  translated,  to  baptize,  is 
iahal^  a  word  which  in  the  books  of  Moses  is  never  used  to 
designate  rites  of  purifying  of  any  kind. 

2.  The  tdbalings,  or  Talmudic  baptisms,  were  self-per- 
formed, and  not  the  act  of  an  official  administrator.  The 
reception  of  the  person  must  be  sanctioned  by  the  con- 
sistory or  eldership  of  a  synagogue,  and  attested  by  the 
presence  of  three  witnesses.  But  it  was  performed  by  the 
person's  own  act.  Being  disrobed,  and  standing  in  the 
water,  he  was  instructed  by  a  scribe  in  certain  precepts 
of  the  law.  Having  heard  these,  he  plunged  himself 
under  the  water ;  and  as  he  came  up  again,  ' '  Behold  he 
is  an  Israelite  in  all  things."  If  it  Avas  a  woman,  she  was 
attended  by  women,  while  the  scribes  stood  apart  and  read 
the  precepts:  "And  as  she  plungeth  herself,  they  turn 
away  their  faces,  and  go  out,  when  she  comes  out  of  the 
water."*  It  is  perfectly  evident  that  the  rite  thus  de- 
scribed is  wholly  foreign  to  any  thing  to  be  found  in  the 
Mosaic  law,  and  that  it  belonged  to  the  category  of  self- 
washings,  and  not  to  that  of  the  sacrament,  in  which  an 
official  administrator  was  essential  to  the  validity  of  the  rite. 

3.  This  baptism  is  an  invention  of  the  scribes,  of  post 
Biblical  origin.  Our  sources  of  information  are  (1)  the 
Scriptures  and  Apocrypha;  (2)  the  writings  of  Philo  and 
Josephus,  authors,  the  former  of  whom  was  contemporary 
with  Christ,  and  the  latter  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, both  of  whom  wrote  largely  of  the  institutions  and 
history  of  the  Jews ;  (3)  the  Targums  of  Onkelos  and  of 
Jonathan;   (4)  the  Mishna;  (5)  the  Gemaras, 

Tlie  Targums  are  Aramaic  versions  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  Jews,  at  the  return  from  the  Babylonish  cai)tivity, 
had  lost  the  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  language.     It  was, 

*  Maimonides,  as  above,  in  Lightfoot,  on  John  iii,  23. 


78  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

therefore,  uecessary  that  the  public  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures should  be  accompanied  with  a  translation  into  the 
Aramaic  dialect,  which  they  now  used.  (Neh;  viii,  2-8.) 
The  translations  thus  given  were,  no  doubt,  at  first  extem- 
poraneous and  somewhat  variable.  But  they  gradually 
assumed  fixed  forms,  more  or  less  accurate,  as  they  received 
the  impress  of  different  schools  of  interpreters.  At  first 
transmitted  orally,  they  were  at  length  committed  to  writ- 
ing, the  Targum  of  Onkelos  soon  after  the  end  of  the 
second  century,  and  that  of  Jonathan  a  century  later. 
The  former,  as  a  rule,  keeps  closely  to  the  text.  The 
Targum  of  Jonathan  indulges  "more  in  paraphrase.  The 
Mishna  is  the  text  of  the  Oral  law,  the  traditions  of  the 
scribes.  It  was  reduced  to  writing  by  Rabbi  Judah  Hak- 
kadosh,  about  the  end  of  the  first  century,  and  is  believed 
to  be  a  faithful  exhibit  of  the  traditions  of  the  Jews,  as 
they  stood  at  that  time.  The  two  Gemaras,  with  the 
Mishna,  constitute  the  Talmud.  They  are  collections  of 
interpretations  and  commentaries  on  the  Mishna,  or  oral 
law,  by  the  most  eminent  scribes.  The  Jerusalem  or  Pal- 
estinian Gemara  was  compiled  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries,  and  that  of  Babylonia  one  or  two  centuries 
later.  The  former  represents  the  great  rabbinic  seminary 
at  Tiberias,  in  Galilee ;  the  latter  that  of  Sora,  on  thfe 
Euphrates.  * 

From  these  sources  of  information,  the  indications  are 
conclusive  that  Talmudic  baptism  came  into  use  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  We  have  seen  already  part  of 
the  evidence,  Avhich  will  be  more  fully  developed  in  the 
following  pages,  that  no  such  rite  was  ordained  in  the  law, 
observed  by  Israel,  or  recognized  in  the  Scriptures.  The 
Apocrypha  are  equally  silent  on  the  subject.     The  writings 


*  According  to  Etherid.ce,  the  final  revision  of  the  Babylo- 
nian Gemara  was  completed  by  Rabbi  Jose,  president  of  the 
rabbinic  seminary  at  Pumbaditlia,  on  the  Euphrates,  in  the  year 
499  or  500. — Jerusalem  and  Tiberias,  pp.  174-176. 


Skc.  XVII.]  BAPTISM  OF  PROSELYTES.  79 

of  Philo  aud  Josepliiis  ignore  such  a  rite;  as  do  the  Tar- 
guins  and  ^[ishna.  In  the  hitter,  the  word,  tdhal,  which  is 
commonly  translated,  to  dip,  is  used  constantly  to  designate 
the  self- washings  of  the  law,  which,  as  will  presently  ap- 
pear, can  not  have  been  immersions.  In  fact,  there  is 
sufficient  evidence  that  this  word,  in  addition  to  its  modal 
sense,  was  also  used  to  express  a  washing  or  cleansing, 
irrespective  of  the  manner.  That  it  was  so  employed  to 
describe  the  cleansing  of  Naaman,  will  hereafter  appear. 
It  is  not  until  we  come  to  the  Gemara  of  Babylonia,  dating 
at  the  close  of  the  fifth  century,  long  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  and  cessation  of  the  temple  service,  that  we 
meet  with  any  distinct  account  of  proselyte  immersion. 
After  that  it  is  found  everywhere. 

4.  Whilst  it  is  thus  evident  that  the  baptisms  of  the 
Talmud  are  wholly  without  divine  warrant,  they  are  never- 
theless valuable  as  constituting  an  authentic  rabbinic  tra- 
dition that  a  purifying  with  water  was  requisite  in  the 
reception  of  proselytes.  A  key  to  the  truth  on  this  subject 
presents  itself  in  a  statement  found  in  the  INIishna.  "As 
to  a  proselyte  who  becomes  a  proselyte  on  the  eve  of  the 
passover"  (that  is 'the  evening  before  the  day  of  the  pass- 
over),  "the  school  of  Shammai  say,  Let  him  receive  the 
ritual  bath"  (tdbal),  "aud  let  him  eat  the  passover  in  the 
evening;  but  the  disciples  of  Hillel  say,  He  that  separates 
himself  from  his  uncircumcision  is  like  one  who  separates 
himself  from  a  sepulcher."^  It  thus  appears  that  between 
the  two  schools  of  Jewish  scribes  there  was  a  division  on 
this  subject.  The  one  party  taught  that  the  uncleanness 
of  the  Gentiles  was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  require  seven 
days  of  purifying  with  the  water  of  nklda,  according  to 
the  law  for  one  defiled  by  the  dead.  The  others  held 
them  subject  to  that  minor  uncleanness  which  ceased  with 
the  close  of  the  day,  upon  the  performance  of  the  pre- 
scribed  self-washing.       We   shall    presently  see    that    the 

*Tract  Pesachim,  cap.  viii,  g  8. 


80  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

former  were  correct,  according  to  the  explicit  testimony  of 
the  Scriptures.  But  here  we  have  a  clue  to  the  later 
history  of  Jewish  practice  on  the  subject.  Upon  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem  and  the  termination  of  the  sacri- 
ficial services  there,  the  rites  for  purifying  with  the  water 
of  nidda  were  of  necessity  pretermitted,  as  the  ashes  of 
the  heifer  were  no  longer  obtainable.  The  rabbins  were, 
therefore,  induced  to  substitute  the  self-washing  which 
the  looser  school  of  scribes  had  already  espoused.  At 
what  precise  time  the  self-washings  of  the  law  became  the 
self-immersions  of  the  Gemaras  does  not  appear.  But  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  causes  had  been  already 
for  centuries  at  work  which  were  abundantly  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  change.  From  the  times  of  the  captivities, 
the  vast  multitude  of  Hebrews  who  never  returned,  dwell- 
ing in  Babylonia  and  the  farther  east,  had  been  exposed 
to  the  influences  arising  from  the  religions  of  the  lands  of 
their  dispersion,  as  embodied  in  the  Zend  Avesta  and  the 
Shasters,  the  teachings  of  Zoroaster  and  of  the  Brahmins, 
and  from  the  related  manners  and  customs  and  religious 
rites  which  have  their  native  seats  ujion  the  banks  of  the 
Indus  and  the  Ganges.  The  profoundness  of  the  opera- 
tion of  these  influences  is  seen  in  the  pantheism  of  the 
Kabala,  traceable  as  it  is  to  the  kindred  doctrines  of  the 
Zend  Avesta  and  the  Vedas.*  How  conspicuous  the  place 
held  by  self-immersion  in  the  religious  customs  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  East,  from  the  earliest  ages,  every  one  knows. 
The  Hebrews  dwelhng  among  them  Avere  not  restricted  by 
the  law  to  any  defined  mode  of  self-washing  in  fulfilling  its 
requirements.  It  was,  therefore,  natural  and  inevitable 
for  them  to  adopt  the  mode  which  was  daily  practiced  before 
their  eyes.  The  relations  between  the  Jews  of  "the  Dis- 
persion," and  those  of  Palestine,  were  of  the  most  intimate 


■*This  is  clearly  shown  by  Etheridge,  in  "Jerusalem  and 
Tiberias."  Pp.  339  et  seq.  The  same  thing  is  largely  illustrated 
in  Blavatsky'g  "Isis  Revealed." 


Sec.  XVII.]  BAPTISM  OF  PROSELYTES.  81" 

kiud,  sustained  through  attendance  upon  the  annual  feasts 
at  Jerusalem  (Acts  ii,  9),  and  afterwards  by  continual  cor- 
respondence and  travel,  and  by  the  intercourse  of  the 
school  at  Tiberias  with  those  of  Sora  and  Pumbaditha. 
If  to  these  facts  be  added  the  tendency  by  which  the  rab- 
bins would  seek  to  compensate  for  the  absence  of  the 
water  of  nldcla,  by  expanding  and  magnifying  the  self- 
washings  which  were  still  practicable,  there  remains  no 
ground  of  surprise  or  perplexity  in  finding  self-immersion 
installed  among  the  imperative  observances  set  forth  in  the 
Gemaras.  Of  the  disposition  to  supply  the  place  of  the 
now  impracticable  rites  by  the  enlargement  of  others,  the 
Talmud  affords  more  than  one  example. 

I  have  said  that  the  Scriptural  mode  of  purifying 
for  proselytes  was  by  sprinkling  with  the  w^ater  of  nidda. 
Of  its  use  there  is  a  conspicuous  example.  On  account 
of  their  licentious  wiles  against  Israel,  Midian  was  doomed 
to  destruction.  In  the  campaign  which  followed,  none 
were  spared,  except  the  female  children.  These  Avere 
reserved  for  bond  servants.  (Num.  xxxi,  18;  and  compare 
Lev.  XXV,  44-46;  and  Deut.  xxi,  10-14.)  But,  from  the 
days  of  Abraham,  all  bond  servants  had  been  by  divine 
authority  and  command  endowed  with  an  equal  right  and 
share  with  their  masters  in  God's  favor  and  covenant. 
And  as  Israel  itself  had  been  purified  from  the  defilements 
and  idolatries  of  Egypt,  and  ordained  as  the  peculiar  peo- 
ple of  God  by  the  baptism  of  blood  and  water  at  Sinai,  so 
these  children  of  licentious  Midian,  spared  from  the  de- 
struction incurred  by  their  parents,  and  about  to  be  joined 
with  Israel  as  God's  people,  must  be  cleansed  and  admitted 
in  the  same  manner. 

During  the  expedition,  many  of  the  army  had  become 
defiled  by  contact  with  the  slain,  and  were  therefore  to  be 
cleansed  with  the  water  of  separation,  according  to  the 
law.  Moses,  therefore,  issued  orders  to  the  men  of  the 
army:  "Do  ye  abide  without  the  camp  seven  days;  who- 


82  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  HI. 

soever  hath  killed  any  person,  and  whosoever  hath  touched 
any  slain,  purify  both  yourselves  and  your  captives  on  the 
third  day,  and  on  the  seventh  day."  In  these  directions 
as  to  the  third  and  seventh  days,  we  recognize  the  exact 
requirements  of  the  law,  with  respect  to  the  water  of  sep- 
aration for  the  purification  of  sin.  But  the  narrative  is 
still  more  specific.  ''  Eleazer  the  priest  said  unto  the  men 
of  war  which  went  to  the  battle.  This  is  the  ordinance  of 
the  law  which  the  Lord  commanded  Moses.  Only  the  gold 
and  the  silver,  the  brass,  the  iron,  the  tin,  and  the  lead, 
every  thing  that  may  abide  the  fire,  ye  shall  make  it  go 
through  the  fire,  and  it  shall  be  clean.  Nevertheless,  it 
shall  be  purified  with  the  water  of  separation,  and  all  that 
abideth  not  the  fire  ye  shall  make  go  through  the  water. 
And  ye  shall  wash  your  clothes  on  the  seventh  day,  and 
ye  shall  be  clean,  and  afterw^ard  ye  shall  come  into  the 
camp." — Num.  xxxi,  19-24.  ''The  water  of  separation," 
here,  is,  in  the  original,  "  the  water  of  nidda," — the  water, 
that  is,  in  which  were  mingled  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer. 
With  this,  therefore,  it  was  that  these  daughters  of  Midian 
were  baptized  and  cleansed.  There  were  thirty-two  thou- 
sand of  these  captives,  thus  rescued  from  the  destruction 
incurred  by  the  licentiousness  and  crimes  of  their  own  peo- 
ple, purged  from  their  uncleauness,  engrafted  into  the 
family  of  Abraham,  and  endowed  with  the  blessings  of 
the  covenant.  All  w^ere  "  W' omen  children"  (Num.  xxxi, 
18)  ;  and,  undoubtedly,  many  were  mere  babes ;  the  first 
recorded  example  of  distinctive  infant  baptism. 

Section  XVIII. — The  Baptism  of  Infants. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  Abrahamic  covenant, — the 
betrothal  of  the  church, — the  infant  sons  were  expressly 
included  on  equal  terms  with  their  fathers ;  and  that  in  the 
Sinai  espousal  the  infants  of  both  sexes  were  joined  with 
their  parents  in  the  bonds  of  the  covenant,  and  in  the  re- 
ception of  its  baptismal   seal.     We   have  seen  the  young 


Sec.  XVIIL]  BAPTISM  OF  INFANTS.  83 

daughters  of  Midian  purified  and  admitted  to  the  covenant 
and  church  of  Israel  by  the  same  sacrament,  ^y  these 
unquestionable  facts,  the  principle  of  infant  membership  in 
the  church,  and  the  mode  of  its  certification  by  baptism, 
are  both  alike  clearly  estabhshed.  The  Scriptures  con- 
tain conclusive  evidence  that  the  children  of  after  i;^enera- 
tions  of  Israel  were  received  to  the  covenant  and  the 
church  in  like  manner,  by  baptism  with  the  water  of 
separation. 

1.  The  law  of  God  was  explicit  that  "  one  ordinance 
shall  be  both  for  you  of  the  congregation  and  also  for  the 
stranger  that  sojourneth  with  you,  an  ordinance  forever  in 
your  generations ;  as  ye  are  so  shall  the  stranger  be  before 
the  Lord.  One  law  and  one  manner  shall  be  for  you  and 
for  the  stranger  that  sojourneth  with  you." — Num.  xv, 
14-16.  From  this  law,  it  results  as  a  necessary  conclusion, 
that  inasmuch  as  the  Midianite  children  were  baptized,  the 
same  must  have  been  the  rule  for  the  infants  of  Israel. 

2.  Circumcision  was  the  seal  of  the  Abrahamic  cove- 
nant, but  not  of  that  of  Sinai.  So  long  as  the  church  was 
confined  to  the  family  of  Israel  after  the  flesh,  this  rite,  as 
being  the  proof  and  seal  of  membership  in  that  family  was 
essential  as  a  condition  precedent  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
privileges  of  the  church  ;  but  did  not,  of  itself,  seal  or  con- 
vey a  right  to  them.  Otherwise,  every  circumcised  person 
would  have  been  entitled  to  those  privileges ;  whereas  they 
were  reserved  exclusively  for  the  clean. 

3.  While  such  was  the  case,  it  was  a  fundamental  arti- 
cle of  the  faith  from  the  beginning,  that  men  are  all  natively 
unclean.  Job,  Eliphaz,  and  Bildad,  each  severally  states 
it  as  an  unquestionable  proposition  that  man  born  of  woman 
must  be  so.  (Job  xiv,  4;  xv,  14;  xxv,  4.)  David  cries: 
"  Behold  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity  and  in  sin  did  my  mother 
conceive  me.  .  .  .  Purge  me  with  hyssop  and  I  shall  be 
clean;  wash  me  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow." — Psalm 
H,  5-7.     He  not  only  recognizes  the  radical  nature  of  his 


84  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

moral  corruption  as  born  in  Lim,  but  indicates  the  remedy 
under  the  very  figure  of  sprinlding  with  the  water  of  nidda, 
to  which  the  hyssop  refers.  The  Lord  Jesus,  speaking  at 
a  time  ^vhen  the  Old  Testament  ordinances  and  system 
were  still  in  full  force,  testifies,  "That  which  is  born  of 
the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Sj^irit  is 
spirit.  Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee.  Ye  must  be  born 
again." — John  iii,  6,  7. 

4.  To  signalize  this  native  corruption  of  man  and  the 
remedy,  the  ordinances  concerning  the  defilement  of  nidda 
and  its  cleansing  were  appointed.  In  them  the  new  born 
infant  was  regarded  as  the  product  of  overflowing  corrup- 
tion, and  as  a  fountain  of  defilement  to  the  mother,  who 
thus  became  unclean,  until  purified  with  the  water  of 
separation. 

5.  The  child  was  identified  wdth  the  mother  in  this  un- 
cleanness  (1)  as  being  its  cause  in  her ;  (2)  as  being  sub- 
ject to  her  touch,  which  was  defiling  to  the  clean;  and  (3) 
as  being  bone  of  her  bone  and  flesh  of  her  flesh,  born  of 
her  body. 

6.  In  accordance  with  the  doctrine  of  man's  native  de- 
filement, above  illustrated,  it  was  characteristic  of  the  law 
that  it  recognized  none  as  clean,  unless  purged  by  water 
of  sprinkling.  -  The  infants  at  Sinai  were  so  purified  and 
admitted  to  the  covenant,  as  well  as  their  parents.  So  it 
was  with  the  daughters  of  Midian ;  and  no  other  principle 
was  known  to  the  law, — no  other  practice  tolerated  by  it. 
"  The  man"  (the  person)  "that  shall  be  unclean,  and  shall 
not  purify  himself,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off"  from  among 
the  congregation,  because  he  hath  defiled  the  sanctuary  of 
the  Lord :  the  water  of  separation  hath  not  been  sprinkled 
upon  him  ;  he  i^  unclean." — Num.  xix,  20. 

7.  It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact,  that  while  we  have  in 
the  Scriptures  but  one  single  example  specifically  mentioned 
of  the  purifying  of  an  infant  from  this  ritual  defilement 
of  birth,  that  example  occurs  in  the  person  of  Him  re- 


Skc.  XIX.]  BAPTISM  OF  THE  LEVITES.  85 

specting  wliom  the  angel  said  to  Mary,  "That  holy  thing 
which  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of 
God." — Luke  i,  35.  In  the  same  gospel  in  which  is  this 
record,  we  read,  respecting  Mary,  in  the  common  version, 
tliat  "when  the  days  of  licr  2:)urification,  according  to  the 
law  of  Moses,  were  accomplished,  they  brouglit  Jesus  to 
Jerusalem  to  present  him  to  the  Lord." — lb.  ii,  22.  But  it 
is  agreed  by  critical  editors  that  this  is  a  corrupted  reading, 
which  is  wholly  without  authority  from  any  respectable 
manuscript.  Instead  of  "  the  days  (antes)  of  her  purifica- 
tion," it  should  read  (autdn),  "the  days  of  their  purifica- 
tion;" that  is,  of  both  mother  and  child.  Beside  all  the 
other  authorities,  the  three  oldest  manuscripts,  Sinaiticus, 
Yaticauus,  and  Alexandrinus,  unite  in  this  reading.  How 
the  mothers  were  purified,  we  have  seen;  and,  from  these 
facts,  we  know  the  children  to  have  shared  with  them  in 
the  baptism. 

Section  XIX. — TJie  BaiMsm  of  the  Levites. 

The  case  of  the  Levites,  in  their  cleansing  and  conse- 
cration, was  peculiar.  They  had  already  enjoyed  with  the 
rest  of  the  congregation  the  purifying  rites  and  sprinkled 
seal  of  the  Sinai  covenant ;  and  were  thus,  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  clean,  and  competent  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  ordinances  and  i)rivileges  of  Israel.  But  when 
they  were  set  apart  to  a  special  nearness  to  God,  in  the  service 
of  the  sanctuary,  they  were  required  to  undergo  additional 
ceremonies  of  purifying.  Moses  was  instructed  to  "  take 
the  Levites  from  among  the  children  of  Israel  and  cleanse 
them.  And  thus  shalt  thou  do  unto  them  to  cleanse  them. 
Sprinkle  water  of  purifying  upon  them ;  and  let  them 
shave  all  their  flesh,  and  let  them  wash  their  clothes,  and 
so  make  themselves  clean."  They  were  then  to  bring  two 
bullocks;  "and  the  Levites  shall  lay  their  hands  upon  the 
heads  of  the  bullocks,  and  thou  shalt  ofier  the  one  for  a 
sin-offering,  and   the  other  for  a  burnt-ofiering,  unto  the 


86  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

Lord,  to  make  an  atonement  for  the  Levites.  And  thou 
slialt  set  the  Levites  before  Aaron  and  before  his  sons,  and 
offer  them  for  an  offering  unto  the  Lord.  Thus  shalt  thou 
separate  the  Levites  from  among  the  children  of  Israel; 
and  the  Levites  shall  be  mine." — Num.  viii,  6-14. 

Section  XX. — Tlie^e  all  ivere  one  Baptism. 

The  baptism  of  the  Levites  was  official  and  peculiar. 
Its  analogies  to  the  other  examples  will  readily  occur  to 
the  reader,  as  we  proceed.  As  to  them,  there  is  a  common 
identity  in  all  essential  points,  in  form,  meaning,  and 
office.  The  design  of  the  first  administration  at  Sinai,  and 
of  all  the  attendant  circumstances,  was  to  impress  Israel 
with  a  profound  and  abiding  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin,  and 
of  their  own  utter  vileness  and  ruin  as  sinners  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  God  of  infinite  power,  majesty,  and  holiness;  and 
to  illustrate  to  them  the  manner  in  which  grace  and  sal- 
vation are  given.  In  accepting  that  baptism,  Israel  pro- 
fessed to  submit  themselves  to  his  sovereignty  and  ac- 
cept him  in  the  ofiices  of  his  grace,  as  symbolized  in  the 
baptismal  rites.  On  God's  behalf,  the  transaction  was  an 
acceptance  and  acknowledgment  of  them  as  his  covenant 
people.  The  laws  of  defilement  and  the  rites  of  purifying 
were  continual  reminders  and  re-enactiugs  of  the  Sinai 
transaction,  and  for  the  same  essential  purpose, — the  re- 
storing to  the  fellowship  of  the  covenant  of  those  who 
came  under  its  forfeiture.  In  each  several  case,  sacrificial 
elements — blood  or  ashes — were  applied  by  sprinkling.  In 
each,  those  elements  were  mingled  with  running  water, 
and  the  instrument  for  sprinkling  was  a  bush  of,  hyssop, 
and  in  each,  scarlet  and  cedar  were  used. 

The  meaning  of  the  scarlet,  cedar,  and  hyssop  is  un- 
explained in  the  Scriptures.  Expositors  have  wandered 
in  conjectures,  leading  to  no  satisfactory  conclusions.  One 
result  of  their  use  is  manifest.  To  us,  devoid  of  meaning, 
they   more   distinctly   mark   the    essential  ■  identity  of  the 


Skc.  XX.]  THESE    WERE  ONE  BAPTISM.  87 

rites,  ill  which  they  occupy  the  same  place,  and  perform  the 
same  office.  This  may  have  been  one  design  of  their  use. 
Tlie  essential  identity  of  these  rites  is  altogether  con- 
sistent with  the  minute  variations  in  their  forms.  These 
had  respect  to  the  diversity  of  circumstances  under  which 
they  were  administered.  The  inferior  dignity  of  a  single 
person,  a  leper,  as  compared  with  the  whole  people,  ex- 
plains the  acceptance  of  lambs  or  birds  for  his  offerings, 
while  bulls  and  goats  were  sacrificed  for  the  nation.  In 
the  case  of  ordinary  uncleannesses,  the  circumstances  ren- 
dered special  provision  necessary.  Sacrifice  was  lawful 
only  at  the  sanctuary,  which  was  the  figure  of  the  one 
holy  place  and  altar  Avhere  Christ  ministers  in  heaven. 
But  death  and  other  causes  of  unclcanness  were  occurring 
everywhere.  The  ashes  of  the  red  heifer  were,  therefore, 
provided.  They  presented  sacrificial  elements  in  a  form 
incorruptible  and  convenient  for  transportation.  They 
were  a  most  fitting  representation  of  the  "incorruptible 
blood  of  Qirist."  And,  as  the  proper  place  of  the  priests 
was  at  the  sanctuary,  and  their  presence  could  not  be  ex- 
pected on  every  occasion  of  uncleanness  elsewhere,  it  was 
ap[)ointed  that  any  clean  person  might  perform  the  sprink- 
ling. This  was,  in  fact,  a  mere  ministerial  sequel  to  the 
sacrificial  rites,  performed  by  the  priest,  at  the  burning  of 
the  red  heifer.  The  probability  of  the  circumstances,  and 
intimations  from  the  rabbins,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that, 
as  the  priests  multiplied  and  were  released  from  the  neces- 
sity of  constant  attendance  at  the  sanctuary,  they  were 
commonly  called  to  sprinkle  the  water  of  purifying.  In 
fact,  the  Talmud  indicates  that  in  the  later  times  the  ad- 
ministration, when  practicable,  took  place  at  Jerusalem,  by 
the  hands  of  the  priests,  with  water  from  the  pool  of  Siloam, 
which,  flowing  from  beneath  the  temple,  was  recognized  as 
a  type  of  the  Holy  Spirit.* 

*  Compare  Ezek.  xlvii,  2;  John  ix,  7.     "Go  wash  in  the 
pool  of  Siloam,  which  is  by  interpretation,  Sent." 


88  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Paut  III. 

The  minute  variations  traceable  in  these  rites  only  make 
it  the  more  clear  that  essentially,  in  form,  meaning,  and 
office,  they  were  one  baptism. 

Section  XXI. — Tim  Symbol  was  derived  from  the  Bain. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  the  source 
whence  the  figure  of  sprinkling  or  pouring  is  derived.  '*! 
will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon 
the  dry  ground ;  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed,  and 
my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring ;  and  they  shall  spring  up 
as  among  the  grass,  as  willows  by  the  water  courses." — Isa. 
xliv,  3,  4.  It  is  the  descent  of  the  rain  from  heaven, 
penetrating  the  earth,  and  converting  its  deadness  into 
life,  abundance,  and  beauty. 

Herein  the  rites  in  question  stand  in  beautiful  contrast 
with  the  self-washings  of  the  law.  The  latter  accomplished 
a  surface  cleansing,  by  a  process  which  neither  could,  nor 
was  designed  to  penetrate  the  substance,  or  to  affect  its 
essential  state  or  nature.  They  indicated  to  God's  people 
the  duty  of  conforming  the  external  life  to  the  grace 
wrought  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  the  rite 
of  sprinkling  represented  the  rain  of  God,  sent  down  from 
heaven,  penetrating  the  soil,  pervading  and  saturating  it, 
converting  its  hard,  dead,  and  sterile  clods  into  softness, 
life,  and  fertility,  and  causing  the  plants  and  fruits  of  the 
earth  to  spring  forth,  saturated  with  the  same  moisture, 
and  thus  possessed  and  pervaded  with  the  same  spirit  of 
life.  Thus  was  typified  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  entering, 
pervading,  and  softening  the  stony  heart,  converting  all  its 
powers  and  faculties  as  instruments  of  holiness  to  God, 
and  causing  the  plants  of  righteousness  to  spring  up  and 
grow  in  the  life  and  conduct. 

The  two  words,  sprinUe,  and  pour,  are  used  throughout 
the  Scriptures  with  reference  to  the  same  figure  of  rain, 
the  only  apparent  difference  being  that  the  word,  pour,  ex- 
presses the  idea  of  abundance.     No  phenomenon  of  nature 


Sec.  XXL]  THE  FIGURE  IS  FROM  THE  RAIN.  89 

is  of  greater  manifest  importance,  or  more  pervasive  and 
vital  in  its  influences  than  the  rain  of  heaven,  and  none 
more  suitable  to  illustrate  the  method  of  grace.  The  land 
from  which  the  rains  are  withheld  is  without  fruit,  or 
beauty,  or  attraction.  It  is  given  over  to  barrenness, , 
death,  and  cursing;  and,  in  the  language  of  the  Scriptures, 
is  accounted  unclean,  as  being  shut  out  from  the  favor  of 
God,  whose  favor  is  life.  Hence,  the  word  of  God,  to  the 
prophet,  concerning  Israel:  "Son  of  man,  say  unto  her, 
Thou  art  the  land  that  is  not  cleansed,  nor  rained  upon,  in 
the  day  of  indignation." — Ezek.  xxii,  24.  Similar  is  the 
significance  of  our  Savior's  w^ords:  "When  the  unclean 
spirit  is  gone  out  of  a  man,  he  walketh  through  dry  places" 
(anhudron  topon,  "waterless  places"),  places  congenial  to 
him  because  unblessed  with  the  Spirit's  presence.  (Matt. 
Txii,  43;  Luke  xi,  24.) 

Illustrations  from  the  Scriptures  might  be  multij^lied, 
showing  this  origin  of  the  form  of  baptism.  Isaiah  says 
of  the  blessings  to  be  bestowed  on  Israel  in  the  latter 
days,  that  the  times  of  desolation  shall  continue  "until 
the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on  high,  and  the  wild- 
erness be  a  fruitful  field,  and  the  fruitful  field  be  counted 
for  a  forest." — Isa.  xxxii,  15.  In  another  place  he  cries, 
"Drop  down,  ye  heavens  from  above,  and  let  the  skies 
pour  down  righteousness;  let  the  earth  open,  and  let  them 
bring  forth  salvation,  and  let  righteousness  spring  up  to- 
gether; I  the  Lord  have  created  it." — Isa.  xlv,  8.  Hosea 
says  of  him:  "His  going  forth  is  prepared  as  the  morning; 
and  he  shall  come  unto  us  as  the  rain,  as  the  latter  and 
former  rain  unto  the  earth." — Hosea  vi,  3.  And  again, 
"Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap  in  m«rcy;  break 
up  your  fallow  ground;  for  it  is  time  to  seek  the  Lord, 
till  he  come  and  rain  righteousness  upon  you." — lb.  x,  12. 
The  whole  conception  thus  unfolded  is  assailed  and  re- 
pudiated by  writers  Avho  assume  that  physical  phenomena 
can  not  be  used  to  set  forth  spiritual  realities.     Dr.  Carson 


90  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

insists  that  "  Baptism  can  not  be  either  pouring  or  clipping, 
for  the  sake  of  representing  the  manner  of  the  conveyance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  for  there  is  no  such  likeness.     Pouring 
of  the  Spirit  is  a  phrase  which  is  itself  a  figure,  and   not 
a  reality  to  be  represented  by  a  figure."*     The  learned  doc- 
tor has  confounded  himself  with  his  own  subtlety.     On  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  there  was  a  blessed  "reality"  of  some 
kind  experienced  by  the  apostles  and   converts.     There  is 
no  absurdity,  such  as  he  imagines,  in  the  supposition  that 
the  pouring  or  sprinkling  of  water  may  be  an  appropriate 
physical  representation  and  symbol  of  that  spiritual  reality, 
and  that  words  descriptive  of  that  symbol  may  be  appro- 
priate for  the  verbal  designation  of  the  thing  signified.     If 
the  assertion  of  Dr.  Carson  is  to  be  accepted,  it  is  fatal  not 
to  baptism  only  but  to  the  other  sacrament  also.     "  Ex- 
cept ye  eat   the   flesh  of  the   Son  of  man  and  drink  his 
blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you." — John  vi,  53.     Shall  we 
be  told  that  this  language  of  our  Savior  "  is  itself  a  figure, 
and  not  a  reality  to  be  represented  by  a  figure."    Then,  we 
may  not  eat  the  bread  and  drink  the  wane,  to  represent 
this  very  thing,  the  feeding  of  the  soul,  by  faith,  on  Christ. 
To  do  so  is  absurd  if  Dr.  Carson's  position  is  sound.     It  is 
true  that  a  figure  of  speech  oj  a  figure  of  speech  would  be 
nonsense.     But  it  is  equally  true  that  it  is  the  beauty  of  a 
metaphor, — the  figure  in   question, — to   be  susceptible  of 
physical  representation.     Nor  is  there  any  absurdity  in  the 
supposition  that  a  spiritual  act  may  be  represented  by  two 
co-ordinate  figures, — the  one  a  figure  of  physical  action, 
and  the  other  a  figure  of  speech,  descriptive  of  that  action. 
Besides,  the  assertion  that  "baptism  can  not  be  either 
by  pouring  or  dipping  for  the  sake  of  representing   the 
manner  of  the  conveyance  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  for  there  is 
no  such  likeness,"  is  not  merely  an  assumption  of  knowl- 
edge concerning  the  invisible  things  of  God  Avhich  no  mor- 
tal can  possess.     But,  if  the  language  is  to  be  understood 

*  Carson  on  Baptism,  p.  167. 


Skc.  XXL]        THE  FIGURE  IS  FROM  THE  RAIN.  91 

in  any  sense  pertinent  to  the  purpose  of  Dr.  Carson,  it  is  a 
plain  contradiction  of  the  testimony  of  God  himself  on  the 
subject.  True,  there  is  no  physical  outpouring  predicable 
of  God  the  Spirit.  It  is  as  true  of  the  Doctor's  own 
word  ;  —  there  is  no  physical  ' '  conveyance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  Does  it,  therefore,  follow  that  there  is  no  convey- 
ance, no  outpouring?  He  might  with  as  good  reason  quib- 
ble as  to  the  exaltation  of  Christ,  because  height  and  depth 
are  mere  relative  terms,  Avhich  change  their  direction,  at 
every  moment  of  the  earth's  motion  on  its  axis  and  its  orbit. 
His  objection  equally  applies  to  the  entire  ritual  of  the 
Scriptures,  robs  it  of  all  spiritual  meaning  and  renders  the 
whole  utterly  inane  and  worthless.  And  yet,  if  Paul's  tes- 
timony be  true,  the  tabernacle  and  all  the  vessels  of  min- 
istry were  ''patterns  of  things  in  the  heavens." — Heb.  ix, 
23.  Are  those  heavenly  things  not  spiritual  ?  Jesus  him- 
self was  "  the  Lamb  of  God,"  the  forerunner,  John,  being 
witness.  Is  there  any  incongruity  between  this  language, 
and  the  fact  that  the  sacrificial  lambs  of  the  ritual  law 
meant  the  same  thing  ?  If  Dr.  Carson  is  right,  all  this  is 
absurd.  Or,  is  there  no  spn-itual  truth  involved  in  these 
figures?  Either  the  physical  analogies  to  wdiich  the  Word 
of  God  constantly  appeals,  in  figures  of  speech  and  simili- 
tudes, and  upon  which  the  whole  ritual  system  is  built,  do 
so  correspond  with  the  spiritual  realities  as  to  assist  us  to 
true  conceptions  of  them,  however  inadequate, — either  the 
Scriptural  figures,  forms,  and  rites  were  selected  because 
])cst  adapted  to  convey  and  illustrate  the  spiritual  ideas  de- 
signed, or  we  are  mocked  by  a  semblance  of  revelation 
which  reveals  nothing.  The  assertion  cuts  us  oif  from  all 
knowledge  of  the  spiritual  world.  Nay,  it  leaves  us  igno- 
rant of  the  very  existence  of  angel  or  spirit.  For,  what  is 
spirit,  but  the  spiritus  or  breath  of  man,  the  air  or  wind? 
How,  then,  upon  the  theory  in  question,  can  the  word  ac- 
quire or  convey  any  idea  of  immaterial  things?  Until  the 
portentous  innsition  of  Dr.    Carson  shall   have   been  estab- 


92  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Fart  III. 

lished  by  something  more  conclusive  than  mere  assertion, 
the  contrary  will  stand  as  the  truth  of  God.  Moreover, 
the  assertion,  even  if  admitted,  does  not  affect  in  the  shght- 
est  degree,  the  argument  against  which  it  is  directed.  The 
fact  still  remains,  conspicuous  and  unanswerable, — that, 
whatever  be  the  reason,  sprinkling  and  pouriag  are,  in  the 
Scriptures,  constantly  used,  both  in  ritual  forms,  and  in 
figures  of  speech,  to  signify  the  bestowal  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  by  the  Mediator,  from  his  throne  on  high. 

Section  XXII. — T/iis  Ordinance  meant,  Life  to  the  Dead. 

The  manner  of  these  rites,  and  the  style  of  the  Scrip- 
tures in  connection  with  them  are  based  upon  the  funda- 
mental fact  of  man's  spiritual  condition  as  by  nature  dead, 
by  reason  of  the  apostasy  and  the  curse, — "dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins"  (Eph.  ii,  1,  5);  "being  alienated  from 
the  life  of  God"  (lb.  iv,  18),  so  that  they  are  incapable 
of  exercising  any  of  the  activities  of  true  spiritual  life  unto 
God,  and  are,  therefore,  outcast  as  Avere  the  leper  and  the 
unclean,  from  the  camp  and  society  of  the  clean;  being 
"aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  strangers  from 
the  covenants  of  promise." — lb.  ii,  12.  In  short,  the  death 
which  by  sin,  through  one  man,  entered  the  world  was  the 
death  of  the  soul.  With  reference  to  it,  Jesus  say», — "I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life :  he  that  believeth  in  me 
though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live :  aud  whosoever 
liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die." — John  xi,  25, 
26.  But  inasmuch  as  a  dead  soul  can  not  sustain  life  in 
the  body,  the  latter  too  died  with  the  soul,  in  the  day  of 
its  death.  For  a  little  time,  through  the  mercy'of  God,  in 
order  to  salvation  (2  Peter  iii,  15),  an  expiriug  struggle  is 
maintained ;  but  it  is  vrith  bodies  ever  stooping  to  the  grave 
and  irresistibly  drawn  downward  into  its  yawning  gulf.  It 
is  in  view  of  these  facts  that  Paul  describes  the  old  man, 
the  carnal  or  inherited  nature,  as  "  the  body  of  this  death," 
or   "this  dead  body;"   and   its  works  as   "dead    works" 


Skc.  XXI l]       meant  life  to  the  dead.  93 

(Heb.  vi,  1;  ix,  14)  which  he  represents  to  be  "all  man- 
ner of  concupiscence,"  or  evil  desires,  and  consequent  evil 
deeds.  (Rom.  vii,  8-24.)  Hence,  the  seven  days'  unclean- 
ness,  signifying  the  deadness  of  tlie  soul,  and  the  offensive- 
ness  of  its  works.  Coincident  in  meaning  was  the  defile- 
ment of  things  by  the  contagion  of  death.  For  man's  sake, 
the  ground  itself  is  cursed  (Gen.  iii,  17),  and  every  product 
of  the  earth  and  every  possession  of  man  upon  it  is  involved 
in  the  curse,  and  until  delivered  from  it,  is  unsanctified  to 
man's  use.  Hence,  the  house,  the  bed,  the  furniture  and 
utensils,  were  defiled  by  the  presence  of  the  dead  and  un- 
fitted for  the  use  of  the  clean,  the  living. 

Such  were  the  conceptions  with  reference  to  which  the 
rites  of  Levitical  baptism  were  ordained.  They  were  de- 
signed to  answer  the  question :  How  can  these  dead  be 
made  alive,  this  defilement  be  cleansed,  and  the  curse  lifted 
from  man  and  the  earth?  They  announced  life  to  the 
dead,  and  the  healing  of  their  corruption.  They  pro- 
claimed Christ's  atonement  made  to  redeem  us  from  the 
curse,  and  his  Spirit  given  to  implant  in  us  new  life  and 
purge  us  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God.  As 
the  descending  rain  not  only  penetrates  the  soil  and  instils 
life  into  the  clods  and  hardness,  but  washes^  and  purges 
the  surface,  and  gives  freshness  and  beauty  to  the  scenes 
of  nature,  cleansing  the  face  of  the  impenetrable  and  bar- 
ren rock, — so  the  Spirit  sent  down  not  only  penetrates  the 
heart  and  creates  new  life  there,  but  pervades  the  outward 
life  and  conduct  and  purifies  the  whole.  Thus,  in  the  one 
figure  of  the  sprinkling  or  pouring  of  rain,  are  identified 
the  two  ideas  of  new  life  and  cleansing ;  and  hence,  thus 
taught,  the  cry  of  the  psalmist,  in  which  he  identifies  both 
with  the  sprinkled  baptism.  *'  \yash  me  thoroughly  from 
my  iniquity,  and  cleanse  me  from  my  sin.  .  .  .  Purge  me 
with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean  :  wash  me,  and  I  shall 
be  whiter  than  snow.  .  .  .  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O 
God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me." — Ps.  li,  2-10. 


94  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

The  same  relation  is  recognized  by  Paul,  who  ascribes  our 
salvation  to  "  the  washiiig  of  regeneration  and  renewing 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Savior." — Tit.  iii,  5,  6. 

In  the  promise  of  life  signified  in  this  baptism,  two 
things  were  included  under  the  one  essential  conception. 
These  were,  renev/ing  to  the  soul,  and  resurrection  to  the 
body.  These  are  as  inseparably  related  to  each  other  as 
are  the  death  of  the  soul  and  of  the  body;  and  that,  be- 
cause of  the  essential  relation  between  those  two  parts,  as 
identified  in  the  one  person.  Christ  gave  himself,  body 
and  soul,  for  us,  to  satisfy  justice ;  and  bought  us  unto 
himself  in  our  whole  being,  body  and  soul.  If  the  Spirit 
of  life  be  given  us,  it  is  given  both  to  renew  our  dead 
souls  and  to  make  our  bodies  his  temples.  And,  says 
Paul,  "If  the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Christ  from 
the  dead  dwell  in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the 
dead  shall  also  quicken  your  mortal  bodies,  by  his  spirit 
that  dwelleth  in  you." — Rom.  viii,  11. 

That  this  doctrine  of  the  new  life  was  the  meaning  of 
the  baptismal  rite,  appears  from  many  Scriptures.  We 
have  just  seen  the  significant  language  of  the  psalmist. 
By  Ezekiel,  the  Lord  says  to  Israel :  "  Then  will  I  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you  and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  from  all  your 
filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you.  A 
new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put 
within  you;  and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of 
your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh.  And  I 
will  put  my  Spirit  within  you." — Ezek,  xxxvi,  25-27. 

This  view  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  exhibited 
very  clearly  in  Ezekiel's  vision  of  the  valley  of  dry  bones, 
and  the  promises  therewith  addressed  to  Israel  respecting 
the  latter  days.  "  Behold,  O  my  people,  I  will  open  your 
graves,  and  cause  you  to  come  up  out  of  your  graves,  and 
bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel.  And  ye  shall  know  that 
I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  have  opened  your  graves,  O  my 


Sec.  XXIII.]  THE  GOSPEL  IN  THIS  RITE.  95 

people,  and  brought  you  up  out  of  your  graves,  and  shall  put 
my  Spirit  in  you,  and  ye  shall  live." — Ezek.  xxxvii,  12-15. 

In  the  same  sense  Paul  interprets  the  Levitical  bap- 
tisms. Having  designated  the  ordinances  of  which  they 
formed  a  part  as  figures  of  the  heavenly  things,  he  says : 
"If  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  a 
heifer  sprinkling  the  unclean,  sanctifieth  to  the  purifying 
of  the  flesh,  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ  .  .  . 
purge  your  conscience  from  dead  works,  to  serve  the  living 
God." — Heb.  ix,  13, 14.  Here  he  contrasts  the  dead  works 
of  the  unregenerate  with  the  living  works  of  those  who,  as 
they  are  alive  unto  God,  serve  in  newness  of  life  him  who, 
being  the  living  God,  *'  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but 
of  the  living." — Matt,  xxii,  32.  Of  this  he  recognizes  the 
sprinklings  to  be  a  figure. 

The  doctrine  thus  involved  in  the  water  of  purifying 
sheds  a  beautiful  light  on  one  of  the  most  interesting  facts 
in  the  life  of  our  Savior.  Upon  the  death  of  Lazarus, 
Jesus  so  timed  his  coming  as  to  reach  Bethany  on  the 
fourth  day.  On  the  previous  day,  or,  more  probably,  on 
that  very  same  day,  the  sisters  and  household  of  Lazarus 
had  been  baptized  with  the  water  of  purification.  And 
now,  as  He  stands  by  the  sepulcher,  the  resurrection,  in  its 
highest  sense,  as  including  both  soul  and  body,  and  render- 
ing both  superior  to  death,  is  the  theme  of  his  discourse. 
"Thy  brother  shall  rise  again.  Martha  saith  unto  him,  I 
know  that  he  shall  rise  again,  in  the  resurrection,  at  the 
last  day.  Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life ;  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead, 
yet  shall  he  live ;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in 
me  shall  never  die." — John  xi,  23-26. 

Section  XXIII. — The  Gosj^el  in  the  Water  of  Separation. 

Much  of  the  s])iritual  significance  of  these  rites  has  al- 
ready appeared.  But  in  order  to  an  adequate  appreciation, 
they  should  be  viewed  in  connection. 


96  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

1.  The  red  heifer  was  a  sin-offering.  This  is  denied  by 
some,  Avho  would  draw  a  fine  distinction.  Says  Bishop 
Patrick:  "Though  this  was  not  a  sacrifice,  it  had  some- 
thing of  that  nature  in  it ,  and  may  be  called  a  piaculum, 
an  expiatory  thing,  though  n'othing  was  called  korban,  a 
sacrifice,  but  what  was  offered  at  the  altar."  But,  (1.) 
korban  does  not  mean  a  sacrifice,  but  a  gift,  a  dedicated 
thing;  and  is  used,  not  only  to  designate  sacrifices  and 
offerings  at  the  altar,  but  even  the  wagons  and  oxen  which 
the  princes  gave  for  transporting  the  tabernacle  and  its 
furniture.  (Num.  vii,  3.)  (2.)  The  blood  of  the  heifer 
was  sprinkled  by  the  priest  toward  the  door  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. It  was  thus  brought  into  a  relation  to  the  altar 
and  the  mercy-seat,  typically  as  manifest  and  close  as 
though  it  had  been  actually  sprinkled  on  the  altar.  (3.) 
The  law  itself  expressly  declares  it  to  be  a  sin-offering. 
"It  is  a  purification  for  sin," — Num.  xix,  9.  The  original, 
here,  is  the  same  that  is  in  other  places  literally  translated, 
"It  is  a  sin-offering."— Lev.  iv,  24;  v,  9,  11,  12.  In  this, 
its  character  as  a  sin-offering,  lay  the  meaning  of  the  rite 
as  a  purification.  It  represented  atonement  for  sin,  at  the 
price  of  blood, — the  blood  of  Christ.  Hence  its  use  in  pu- 
rifying those  uncleaunesses  which  typified  moral  corruption 
in  its  forms  of  in  tensest  malignity  and  deadliness.  Hence 
the  appeal  to  this  meaning  of  the  rite  whicb  the  psalmist 
makes,  in  his  penitence  and  sorrow  for  his  crimes.  "Be- 
hold, I  was  shapen  in  iniquity,  and  in  sin  did  my  mother 
conceive  me.  .  .  .  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be 
clean ;  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow.  .  .  . 
Hide  thy  face  from  my  sins  and  blot  out  all  mine  iniqui- 
ties."— Ps.  li,  5,  7,  9.  The  Targum  thus  paraphrases  this 
place:  "Thou  wilt  sprinkle  me,  as  the  priest  which  sprink- 
leth  the  unclean  with  the  purifying  waters,  with  hyssop, 
with  the  ashes  of  an  heifer,  and  I  shall  be  clean."  The 
same  conception  is  apparent  in  God's  language  of  grace  to 
Israel,  and  to  the  nations.     "Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean 


Skc.  XXIII.]  THE  GOSPEL  IN  THIS  RITE.  97 

water  upon  you  and  ye  shall  be  clean:  from  all  your  filthi- 
ness  and  from  all  your  idols  will  1  cleanse  you."  And, 
'So  shall  he  sprinkle  many  nations."  In  a  word,  in  every 
instance  in  which  this  rite  is  appointed,  or  figuratively 
alluded  to,  it  ^nll  be  found  to  indicate  a  typical  impeach- 
ment of  sin ;  and  the  design  and  effect  of  its  use  was  the 
removal  of  that  impeachment,  the  cleansing  of  the  subject. 
It  was  baptism  unto  the  remission  of  sitis. 

2.  The  heifer  was  offered  W'ithout  the  camp.  In  the 
detailed  ritual  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple  service,  the 
holy  of  holies,  the  holy  place,  and  the  surrounding  court, 
typified,  respectively,  God's  heavenly  presence  chamber, 
the  church,  and  the  world.  In  a  wider  scheme,  the  v^'hole 
sanctuary  was  representative  of  God's  house,  whilst  the 
camp  and  afterward  the  city  of  Jerusalem  were  the  figure 
of  the  church,  and  the  outside  region  stood  for  the  world 
at  large.  Hence,  the  unclean  were  excluded  from  the  camp 
and  the  city.  (Compare  Rev.  xxi,  27;  xxii,  14,  15.)  And 
hence,  the  red  heifer  was  offered  without  the  camp,  to 
signify  the  reproach  of  Christ,  wdio  suffered  without  the 
gate,  excommunicate  and  accursed.  (Heb.  xiii,  11-13.) 
The  blood  of  the  heifer,  sprinkled  from  without  toward  the 
sanctuary,  intimated  in  a  very  aflfecting  manner,  the  dis- 
tance to  which  Christ  came  from  yonder  sanctuary  in  the 
heavens,  to  shed  his  blood,  and  therewith  to  sprinkle  the 
throne  of  justice  on  high. 

3.  Blood  only  was  sprinkled  toward  the  sanctuary, 
whilst  it  was  water  mingled  with  the  blood  or  ashes,  that 
was  sprinkled  on  the  unclean.  For,  his  own  unmingled 
blood,  offered  by  Christ  himself  before  the  throne  on  high, 
and  that  alone,  makes  satisfaction  to  justice  for  sin.  But 
the .  Holy  Spirit  is  the  sole  channel  and  agent  through 
whom  Christ  bestows  on  his  people,  or  they  can  in  any 
wise  acquire,  the  virtue  of  that  blood  in  justifpng  grace 
and  holiness.  Water,  therefore,  was  the  vehicle  for  com- 
municating to  Israel  the  blood  of  sprinkling. 

9 


98  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Pakt  III. 

4.  The  blood  was  sprinkled  seven  times,  to  show  the 
complete  and  exhaustive  efficacy  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ 
to  satisfy  justice,  sanctify  the  soul,  and  make  an  end  of 
sin  forever. 

5.  He  that  touched  the  dead  was  defiled  seven  days. 
This  tactual  defilement  typified  not  only  the  guilt  and  de- 
pravity which  we  derive  from  Adam,  but,  especially,  the 
contagion  of  man's  guilt  which  came  on  the  Lord  Jesus, 
by  becoming  the  Son  of  man,  born  in  our  nature.  Though 
he  knew  no  sin,  yet  was  he  laden  with  our  curse.  He 
signified  this  very  thing,  when  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  he 
defiled  himself  by  touching  the  lepers  and  the  dead,  that 
he  might  restore  them  to  soundness  and  life,  at  the  price 
of  his  own  life; — "That  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
spoken  by  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying,  Himself  took  our 
infirmities  and  bare  our  sicknesses." — ^Matt.  viii,  17.  The 
same  thing  was  set  forth  by  the  fact  that  the  priest  that 
sprinkled  the  heifer's  blood,  each  assistant  at  the  burning 
and  gathering  of  the  ashes,  and  he  that  sprinkled  the 
water  of  separation,  all  became  thereby  unclean  until  the* 
even.  They,  together,  represented  the  Lord  Jesus,  m  the 
exercise  of  his  mediatorial  office,  which  involved  his  taking 
his  people's  curse  upon  him,  to  free  them.  The  seven  days 
of  this  defilement  have  been  already  explained,  as  typical 
of  our  native  condition  of  dej)ravity  and  guilt,  which,  if 
not  purged,  involves  continuance  and  condemnation  in  the 
seventh,  the  last  day,  when  the  sentence  will  be  uttered, 
"He  that  is  filthy  let  him  be  filthy  still."— Eev.  xxii,  11. 

6.  The  ashes  of  the  heifer  were  as  familiar  to  the  relig- 
ious life  of  Israel  as  was  the  blood  of  sacrifice.  But  the 
significance  of  the  blood  is  so  much  more  familiar  to  us, 
that  a  pause  is  here  proper,  to  call  attention  to  the  won- 
derful propriety  and  instructiveness  of  the  ashes.  In  the 
blood  we  see  the  penalty  of  sin  paid,  and  justice  satisfied. 
But  it  is  satisfied  at  the  price  of  life,  and  leaves  death  -in 
possession.     But,  in  the  ashes,  Israel  saw  the  sacrifice  come 


Skc.  XXIII.]  THE  GOSPEL  IN  THIS  RITE.  99 

forth  from  the  exhausted  fires  of  justice,  unconsumed  and 
uncousumable.  Ou  them,  the  fire  could  no  more  take 
hold ;  but,  mingled  with  the  living  water,  they  represented 
Christ — the  law  satisfied  and  the  curse  exhausted  in  his 
blood — coming  forth  by  the  Spirit,  from  the  expiring 
flames,  robed  in  life  and  immortality.  "  Whom  God  hath 
raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pains  of  death,  because  it  was 
not  possible  that  he  should  be  liolden  of  it." — Acts  ii,  24. 

7.  The  ashes  were  mingled  with  running  water.  Prior 
to  the  baptism  of  Israel  at  Sinai,  we  hear  of  no  sacra- 
mental rite  setting  forth  the  office  and  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  But  the  living  water,  then  ordained  in  the  divers 
baptisms  of  the  Mosaic  system,  became  thenceforward  the 
standing  representation  and  type  of  the  Third  Person  of  the 
Godhead,  as  the  Spirit  of  life,  shed  down  from  heaven  by 
the  Mediator. 

8.  The  sacrificial  elements  and  water  were  sprinhled  on 
the  unclean.  Two  ideas  were  thus  symbolized;  the  hestow- 
ment  by  Christ  from  his  throne  of  the  virtues  of  his  blood 
and  Spirit;  and,  their  efifectual  influence  upon  the  heart 
and  conscience  of  him  to  wdiom  they  are  given.  As  the 
rain  descends  from  heaven,  penetrates  the  soil,  and  makes 
it  fruitful,  so  Christ's  Spirit  shed  down  from  him  takes 
possession  of  the  inmost  heart,  purges  it  from  the  guilt 
of  2mst  sins,  and  produces  newness  of  life  and  the  fruits 
of  holiness.  With  reference  to  the  mode  thus  employed, 
and  its  symbolical  relation  to  Christ's  administration  of 
grace,  the  fact  is  worthy  of  special  emphasis,  that  in  every 
rite  or  figure  by  which  was  represented  the  exercise  by 
Christ  of  his  office  as  administrator  in  the  Father's  king- 
dom, the  mode  is  affusion,  whether  it  be  blood,  water,  or 
oil,  expressive  of  grace  bestowed  on  the  people  of  God,  or 
indignation  and  fire  poured  down  upon  his  enemies. 

9.  Tlie  water  of  separation  was  to  be  sprinkled  on  the 
unclean  on  the  third  day  and  on  the  seventh.  "And  if 
he  purify  not  himself  the  third  day,  then  the  seventh  day 


100  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

he  shall  not  be  clean;"  for,  Jesus  who  died  under  our 
curse,  rose  again  the  third  day.  And  "  Know  ye  not  that 
so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were  bap- 
tized into  his  death?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him 
by  baptism  into  death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up 
from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also 
should  walk  in  newness  of  life.  For,  if  we  have  been 
planted  together  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be 
also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection." — Rom.  vi,  3-5.  If 
w^e  do  not  participate  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ  on  the 
third  day,  by  rising  from  the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of 
holiness,  we  can  have  no  part  in  the  resurrection  and  life 
of  glory.  So,  Paul  testifies  to  the  Ephesians,  that  the  same 
mighty  power  which  raised  Christ  from  the  dead  and  set 
him  far  above  in  the  heavenly  places,  is  at  work  in  all  his 
people,  and  by  it  they  who  were  dead  in  sins  are  quickened 
together  with  him,  and  made  to  sit  with  him  in  the  heavenly 
places.  (Eph.  i,  20;  ii,  6.)  Hence,  Paul's  earnest  desire 
and  labor  for  himself, — "  That  I  may  know  him,  and  the 
power  of  his  resurrection,  .  .  .  if  by  any  means,  I  might 
attain  unto  the  resurrection  of  the  dead." — Phil,  iii,  10, -11. 
*'  Might  know  the  power  of  his  resurrection," — by  realizing 
within,  the  steady  vigor  of  the  new  life  in  Christ  Jesus, 
working  holiness  and  grace. 

Of  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  Paul  says,  that 
"he  rose  again  the  third  day,  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures."— 1  Cor.  XV,  4.  But  w^here,  in  the  Scriptures,  is 
the  third  day  thus  specified  ?  The  Lord  Jesus  makes  a 
similar  statement,  which  goes  far  to  answer  the  question. 
"  These  are  the  words  which  I  spake  unto  you,  while  I  was 
yet  with  you,  that  all  things  must  be  fulfilled  which  were 
written  in  Die  law  of  Hoses,  and  in  the  prophets  and  in  the 
Psalms  concerning  me.  Then  opened  he  their  understand- 
ing, that  they  might  understand  the  Scriptures,  and  said 
unto  them.  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved  Christ 
to  suffer  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day." — Luke 


Src.  XXIII.]  THE  GOSPEL  IN  THIS  RITE.  101 

xxiv,  44-46.  In  another  place,  there  is  a  remarkable  allu- 
sion to  the  same  thing.  When  Jesus,  in  response  to  the 
Jews  demanding  a  sign,  said,  "Destroy  this  temple,  and 
in  three  days,  I  will  raise  it  up,"  the  disciples  did  not  un- 
derstand. But  "  when  he  was  risen  from  the  dead,  they 
remembered  that  he  had  said  this  unto  them  ;  and  they  be- 
lieved tlw  Scripture,  and  the  word  that  Jesus  had  said." — 
John  ii,  18-22.  It  would  thus  appear  that  the  resurrec- 
tion on  the  third  day  was  written  in  the  Scriptures,  and  the 
reference  to  the  law  of  Moses,  and  statement  as  to  the  open- 
ing of  the  understanding  of  the  apostles,  as  though  the  mat- 
ter were  not  jmtent  on  the  face  of  the  record,  both  lead  us 
to  look  in  that  direction  for  the  prophetic  anticipation  of 
the  third  as  the  resurrection  day.  The  other  Scriptures 
will  be  searched  in  vain  for  any  thing  to  fulfill  the  require- 
ments of  these  statements  of  Christ  and  of  Paul.  The  law 
concerning  the  sprinkling  of  the  water  of  separation  con- 
tains the  only  intimation  on  the  subject ;  and  the  allusions 
above  cited  appear  undoubtedly  to  have  had  this  typical 
prophecy  in  view. 

In  the  design  of  this  ordinance,  as  a  prophecy  of  the 
resurrection,  we  have  the  reason  of  its  peculiar  relation  to 
that  particular  form  of  defilement  which  arose  from  con- 
tact with  the  dead.  Although  designed  as  has  been  seen 
for  the  cleansing  of  other  defilements,  also,  it  was  ordained 
in  immediate  connection  w-ith  this  particular  uncleanuess, 
because  that  is  the  connection  in  which  this  distinctive 
meaning  shines  forth  most  clearly. 

10.  He  that  was  purified  wnth  the  water  of  separation 
was  required  to  follow  it  w^th  an  act  of  self-ablution. 
"  On  the  seventh  day,  he  shall  purify  himself,  and  wash 
his  clothes  and  bathe  himself  in  water,  and  shall  be  clean 
at  even." — Num.  xix,  19.  It  has  been  asserted  that  this 
rule  was  meant  for  tlie  administrator  of  the  rite.  But  the 
exposition  afterward  given  by  Eleazar,  the  priest  (Num. 
xxxi,  21-24),  shows  this  to  be  a  mistake.     The  propriety 


102  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

and  beauty  of  the  requirement,  in  the  connection,  are  ap- 
parent. It  was  a  perpetual  monition  to  Israel  that  those 
who  have  been  redeemed  with  precious  blood,  and  raised 
up  to  new  life  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  should  walk  worthy  of 
their  calling,  and  keep  themselves  from  the  evil  that  is  in 
the  world,  in  the  blessed  assurance  of  being  freed  from  all 
corruption  and  evil,  and  made  partakers  in  the  perfection 
of  holiness  and  life,  on  the  great  Sabbath  day  of  redemption. 

This  thought  was  more  fully  developed  in  the  rites  con- 
cerning the  leper.  Immediately  upon  his  baptism,  he  was 
required  to  shave  his  hair,  wash  his  garments  and  bathe  his 
flesh.  The  hair  and  the  defilement  adhering  to  the  gar- 
ments and  flesh  Avere  evident  types  of  the  outgrowth  and 
fruits  of  his  leprous  life.  Of  the  shaving  and  cleansing 
thus  appointed,  Paul  may  give  the  interpretation — "That 
ye  put  ofl*  concerning  the  former  conversation,  the  old  man 
which  is  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful  lusts." — Eph. 
iv,  22.  After  this,  the  meaning  of  the  hke  shaving  and 
washing  on  the  seventh  day  is  apparent.  It  sets  forth  the 
final  and  complete  putting  ofl*  of  the  old  carnal  nature,  in 
the  resurrection  of  life,  when  our  bodies  themselves  also 
shall  be  transformed  into  the  likeness  of  Christ's  glorious 
body,  and  be  reunited   to   our  souls,  perfected  in  holiness. 

11.  The  defilement  from  the  dead,  and  the  purifying 
use  of  the  water  of  separation  were  not  only  incident  to 
persons;  but  the  tent  or  house  where  the  dead  lay,  and 
every  thing  that  was  in  it,  became  defiled,  and  must  be 
cleansed  by  the  water  of  separation,  sprinkled  on  the  third 
day,  and  on  the  seventh.  (Num.  xix,  14,  18;  xxxi,  20, 
22,  23.)  Thus  were  Israel  taught  that  the  curse  of  sin  is 
on  the  earth,  also,  and  all  that  is  in  it,  as  well  as  on  man; 
that,  only  as  sanctified  to  him  through  the  atonement  of 
Christ,  can  the  productions  and  possessions  of  the  earth  be 
blessed,  and  that  in  the  regeneration,  the  earth  and  the 
creatures  themselves,  also,  shall  be  delivered  from  the 
bondage  of  corruption  into  the  glorious  hberty  of  the  sons 


Sec.  XXI V.J       THESE   THE  DIVERS  BAPTISMS.  103 

of  God,  and  "  Holiness  to  the  Lord,"  be  written  on  the  Very 
bells  of  the  horses.  (Zech.  xiv,  20.)  "For,"  saith  the 
Lord,  *'  behold  1  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth." — 
Isa.  Ixv,  17. 

Thus,  all  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel,  were  set  forth 
and  symbolized  in  this  ordinance,  the  last,  the  consummate 
and  crowning  sacrament  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Section  XXIV.  —  These  were  the  Divers  Baptisms. 

That  the  sprinkled  purifyings  were  the  theme  of  Paul's 
argument  is  evident : 

1.  He  distributes  the  whole  ritual  system  under  two 
categories.  His  statement  (Heb.  ix,  8,  9),  literally  trans- 
lated, is,  that  "  the  first  tabernacle,"  erected  by  Moses,  was 
*^.  (parahole  eis  ton  hairon  enestelcota),  an  illustrative  simili- 
tude, unto  the  present  time  (Jcath  hen^^)  in  accordance  with 
which  (similitude),  both  gifts  and  sacrifices  are  offered, 
which,  as  to  the  conscience,  can  not  perfect  the  worshipers; 
depending  only  on  meats  and  drinks  and  divers  baptisms, — 
righteousnesses  of  the  flesh,  imposed  until  the  time  of  ref- 
ormation." The  word  (dilcaiomata)  "  righteousnesses"  (from 
dikaios,  righteous),  is  repeatedly  so  translated  in  our  En- 
glish version  (Eom.  ii,  26;  v,  18;  vili,  4),  although  in 
some  other  places  beside  the  text  it  is  rendered, — "ordi- 
nances."— Luke  i,  6  ;  Hob.  ix,  1,  10.  The  latter  rendering, 
however,  fails  to  develop  the  true  idea  of  the  word,  which 
is, — ordinances  imposed,  in  order  to  the  attaining  of  righteous- 
ness by  obedience.  So  it  should  be  in  the  first  verse  of  this 
chapter.  "  Then,  verily,  the  first  covenant  had  also  right- 
eousnesses of  worship,"  (ritual  righteousnesses),  "and  an 
earthly  holy  place."  By  the  phrase,  "righteousnesses  of 
the  flesh,"  the  writer  indicates  the  contrast  between  the 
outward  ritual  riji^hteousnesses  of  the  law, — its  circumcision 


*This  readinf?  is  attested  by  codices  Bezac,  Alexandrimis, 
Vaticanus,  Sinaiticus,  and  is  fully  sustained  by  the  internal 
evidence. 


104  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [rAUT   III. 

of  the  flesh,  its  offericgs  of  bulls  and  goats,  and  its  wash- 
ings and  sprinklings  with  material  elements, — and  "  the 
circumcision  of  the  heart;"  "the  offering  of  Jesus  Christ," 
and  "  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  The  ritual  observances  fulfilled  the  law  of 
carnal  commandments,  and  were  thus  righteousnesses  of 
the  flesh,  and  figures  of  the  true,  the  righteousness  of 
Christ. 

Paul  distributes  these  observances  into  the  two  cate- 
gories of  offerings  and  purifyings.  The  law  required  each 
sacrifice  to  be  accompanied  with  a  meat  offering  made  of 
fine  flour  mingled  with  oil,  and  a  drink  offering  of  wine. 
For  the  altar  was  God's  table,  where  he  as  a  Father  fed 
and  communed  with  his  children.  It  must,  therefore,  be 
furnished  with  all  the  provisions  of  a  table.  (Xum.  xv, 
8-5,  7,  etc.)  Thus,  the  offerings  upon  the  altar  were  all 
comprehended  under  the  two  heads  of  meats  (bromasi, 
soHd  food) ,  and  drinks, — nourishments  for  the  body.  Paul's 
other  category  is,  the  divers  baptisms.  These,  of  neces- 
sity, are  the  purifying  rites  of  the  Levitical  system.  For, 
he  describes  the  whole  system  as  including  "  only  meats 
and  drinks  and  divers  baptismis;"  whereas  all  were  actu- 
ally comprehended  under  the  two  heads  of  offerings,  which 
symbolized  atonement  made,  and  purifyings,  representing 
its  apphcation,  to  the  purging  of  sins.  That  it  is  of  the 
purifpngs  that  he  now  speaks,  is  evident  not  only  from 
the  meaning  of  baptism,  itself,  but  from  the  whole  tenor 
of  his  argument,  which  is  directed  exclusively  to  the  two 
points  just  indicated,  atonement  made,  and  purification 
accomplished. 

2.  The  baptisms  of  which  the  apostle  speaks  were  pur- 
ifyings of  persons  and  not  of  things.  They  were  righteous- 
nesses of  the  flesh,  upon  which  men  in  vain  relied  for  the 
purging  of  their  consciences,     (vs.  9,  14.) 

3.  There  were  but  two  ordinances  to  which  Paul  can 
possibly   refer.     Except    the    sprinklings,    and    the   self- 


Sec.  XXIV.]      THESE  THE  DIVERS  BAPTISMS.  105 

performed  washings,  there  was  no  rite  in  the  Levitical 
system  in  which  water  was  used,  or  to  which  the  name  of 
baptism  is,  or  can  be,  attributed,  with  any  pretense  of  rea- 
son or  probabihty. 

4.  The  self-washings  will  be  examined  presently.  As 
compared  with  the  sprinklings,  they  were  of  minor  impor- 
tance. Separately  used  only  for  superficial  defilements, 
they  purged  no  essential  corruption.  They  were  without 
sacrifice,  administrator,  or  sacramental  meaning.  They 
symbolized  no  work  of  Christ,  signified  no  bestowal  of 
grace,  and  sealed  no  blessing  of  the  covenant.  In  all  this, 
they  stood  in  eminent  contrast  with  the  sprinkled  rites. 
To  suppose  that  Paul,  in  a  discussion  which  has  respect  to 
the  cleansing  efficacy  of  Christ's  blood  and  Spirit,  and  the 
Levitical  types  of  it,  should  refer  to  the  minor  rite  of  self- 
washing,  which  did  not  symbolize  those  things,  and  by  an 
exclusive  ^' only"  reject  from  place  or  consideration  the 
sprinklings  which  did,  is  absurd ;  as  it  is,  moreover,  to 
suppose  that,  in  such  an  argument,  the  latter  would  not, 
of  necessity,  have  a  paramount  place  and  consideration. 

5.  This  conclusion  is  fully  confirmed  upon  a  critical  ex- 
amination of  the  connection  of  Paul's  argument.  The 
"meats  and  drinks  and  divers  baptisms"  he  characterizes 
as  "righteousnesses  of  the  flesh,"  in  confirmation  of  the 
assertion  just  made,  that  they  could  not  "  perfect,"  or 
purify  the  conscience  of  the  w^orshiper.  He  then,  imme- 
diately, presents  in  contrast  the  atonement  of  Christ. 
"They,"  says  he,  "depended  only  on  meats  and  drinks  and 
divers  baptisms,  righteousnesses  of  the  flesh  imposed  until 
the  time  of  reformation.  But  Christ  being  come,  .  .  . 
neither  by  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,  but  by  his  own 
blood  he  entered  in  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  ob- 
tained eternal  redemption  for  us.  For  if  the  blood  of  bulk 
and  of  goats  and  the  ashes  of  a  heifer  sprinkling  the  unclean, 
sanctifieth  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh,  how  much  more 
shall  the  blood  of  Christ   .    .   .   purge  your  conscience." 


106  ADMINISTERED  BAPTISMS.  [Part  III. 

Thus,  in  immediate  exposition  of  his  statement  as  to  divers 
baptisms,  the  apostle  specifies  the  two  most  conspicuous 
forms  of  the  sprinklings  of  Sinai,  that  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple, upon  the  making  of  the  covenant,  and  that  adminis- 
tered with  the  water  of  separation — the  one  being  the 
original  of  the  ordinance,  and  the  other  its  ordinary  and 
perpetuated  form.  For,  that  there  may  be  no  mistake  as 
to  his  reference,  in  speaking  of  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of 
goats,  he  proceeds,  a  little  farther  on  to  describe  particu- 
larly its  use  in  the  Sinai  baptism:  "For  when  Moses  had 
spoken  every  precept  to  all  the  people  according  to  the 
law,  he  took  the  blood  of  calves  and  of  goats,  with  water, 
and  scarlet  wool  and  hyssop,  and  sprinkled  both  the  book 
and  all  the  people,  saying,  This  is  the  blood  of  the  testa- 
ment (the  covenant),  which  God  hath  enjoined  unto  you." — 
Vs.  19,  20.  As  we  examine  Paul's  argument  throughout 
the  chapter,  we  find  his  attention  directed,  from  first  to 
last,  to  the  sprinklings  of  the  law  alone,  while  the  self- 
washings  are  not  once  named  nor  alluded  to.  This,  after- 
wards,'very  signally  appears  in  that  magnificent  contrast 
of  Sinai  and  Sion,  in  which  he  sums  up  the  whole  argu- 
ment of  the  epistle.  The  crowning  feature  in  the  attrac- 
tions of  Sion  is  "the  blood  of  sprinkling  that  speaketh 
better  things  than  that  of  Abel." — Heb.  xii,  24.  In  the 
presence  of  it  the  self- washings  are  not  counted  worthy  to 
be  named. 

6.  The  manner  in  which,  in  the  next  chapter,  self- 
washing  is  at  length  introduced  is  a  singular  confirmation 
of  the  view  here  taken.  So  long  as  the  Avriter  is  occupied 
in  the  argument  as  to  Christ's  work  of  expiation,  he  makes 
no  allusion  to  the  self-washings.  But  when  he  proceeds 
to  urge  upon  his  readers  the  practical  plea  which  his  argu- 
ment suggests,  he  does  it  by  referring  to  the  two  rites, 
in  the  relation  to  each  other  which  we  have  indicated. 
"Having,  therefore,  brethren,  boldness  to  enter  into  the 
holiest,  by  the  blood  of  Jesus,  .  .  .  and  having  a  High 


Sicc.  XXIV.]      THESE   THE  DIVERS  BAPTISMS.  107 

Priest  over  the  house  of  God,  let  us  draw  near  with  a  true 
heart,  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having  our  hearts  sprinkled 
from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  own  bodies  washed  with 
2)ure  water." — Heb.  x,  19-22.  To  an  unclean  person,  de- 
siring to  claim  the  privileges  of  the  sanctuary,  the  require- 
ment of  the  law  was,  Let  him  be  sprinkled  on  the  third 
day  and  on  the  seventh,  to  set  forth  Christ's  and  the  Spirit's 
grace;  and  then,  let  him  wash  himself,  in  token  of  the 
maintaining  of  personal  holiness.  From  the  rites  which 
he  has  been  discussing,  Paul's  exhortation  t;akes  form,  and 
in  them  finds  interpretation. 

The  conclusion  is  evident.  Had  Paul  meant  by  the 
phrase  in  question  to  designate  the  self-washings,  they  were 
by  affusion,  and  it  would  follow  that  that  is  the  mode  of 
baptism.  But  that  his  reference  was  distinctively  and 
emphatically  to  the  sprinkled—rites  is  beyond  candid  contra- 
diction. We,  therefore,  plant  ourselves  upon  this  impreg- 
nable position,  and  challenge  assault.  For  ffteen  hundred 
years  of  the  church's  history,  baptism  ivas  uniformly  adminis- 
tered by  sprinkling.  It  was  so  administered  down  to  the 
time  of  Christ.  It  was  so  administered  in  the  time  of  Paul. 
The  word  does  not  then  mean  to  dip  or  to  immerse;  for, 
Paul  being  witness,  the  rite  was  not  so  performed.  Had 
we  no  further  evidence,  this  should  be  conclusive. 


108  RITUAL  SELF- WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 


Part  IV. 

THE  RITUAL  SELF- WASHINGS. 

Section  XXV. —  Unclean  until  the  Even. 

THE  clean,  that  is  those  who  had  been  purified  by 
sprinkling,  were  liable  to  contract  certain  minor  de- 
filements, which  were  characterized  by  continuing  until  the 
even.  Of  these  there  were  two  classes.  First,  were  those 
which  resulted  from  participation  in  expiatory  rites. 
Among  the  most  conspicuous  examples  of  this  class  were 
the  uncleanness  of  the  priests  and  assistants  by  whom  the 
red  heifer  was  sacrificed,  the  ashes  collected  and  the  water 
of  separation  sprinkled  on  the  unclean.  These  all  were, 
by  participation  in  those  rites,  rendered  unclean  until  the 
even,  and  were  required  to  wash  their  clothes,  and  bathe 
their  flesh,  in  order  to  their  cleansing.  (Num.  xix,  7,  8, 
10,  21.)  The  meaning  of  this  is  evident.  The  red  heifer 
was  a  sacrifice  of  expiation,  "  a  purification  for  sin." — lb.  9. 
In  it,  the  priests  and  assistants  and  he  that  sprinkled  the 
ashes,  with  the  heifer  itself,  together,  constituted  a  complex 
type  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  offering  himself  a  sacrifice  to  jus- 
tice, sprinkling  the  altar  in  heaven  with  his  own  blood, 
and  applying  it  with  his  Spirit  to  his  people  for  the  puri- 
fying of  their  uncleanness.  The  defilements  for  which  the 
ashes  of  the  heifer  were  provided  were  typical  of  our 
native  depravity  and  death  in  sin  and  the  curse.  From 
these,  Christ  freed  his  people,  by  being  himself  made  a 
curse  for  them  (Gal.  iii,  13),  dying  in  their  stead,  that 
they  might  live.  To  represent  this  the  priests,  assist- 
ants, and  administrator  of  the  water  of  separation,  became 
defiled,  by  participation  in  the  cleansing  rites.     The  same 


Sec.  XXV.]  UNCLEAN  TILL   THE  EVEN.  109 

explanation  applies  to  the  defilement  which  the  high  priest 
and  others  incurred  by  participation  in  the  observances  of 
the  day  of  atonement.     (Lev.  xvi,  24,  26.) 

The  curse  under  which  the  Lord  Jesus  came  exhausted 
itself  on  his  natural  life,  and  expired  as  he  rose  from  the 
dead.  Of  the  period  during  which  he  bore  its  burden, 
and  fulfilled  his  atoning  work,  he  himself  says:  "I  must 
work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me,  vMU  it  is  day;  the 
night  Cometh,  when  no  man  can  work." — John  ix,  4.  And 
on  the  night  of  the  betrayal  he  said  to  the  Father,  "I 
have  finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do." — lb. 
xvii,  4.  It  thus  appears  that  a  day  is  a  symbol  of  the 
period  of  man's  natural  life,  the  period  during  which  the 
Lord  Jesus  was  under  the  curse.  Hence  the  typical  un- 
cleanness  of  the  priests  and  assistants  was  limited  to  the 
even  of  the  day  on  which  it  was  incurred.  It  was  removed 
by  self-washing ;  for  it  was  by  his  own  power  and  Spirit 
that  Christ  threw  off  the  curse  and  rose  from  the  dead. 
(Rom.  viii,  2,  11;  John  x,  17,  18.) 

2.  The  other  class  of  uncleannesses  until  the  even  arose 
from  the  more  or  less  intimate  contact  of  the  clean  with 
persons  or  things  that  were  unclean  in  the  higher  degree ; 
or  from  other  causes  essentially  similar  in  meaning.  De- 
filements resulting  from  expiatory  rites  symbolized  the 
putative  guilt  incurred  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  making 
atonement  for  us;  while  he  ever  remained,  in  himself, 
"holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners." — Heb. 
vii,  26.  But  the  forms  of  uncleanness  now  under  exami- 
nation resulted  from  contact  with  things  that  were  typical 
of  the  debasement,  corruption,  and  depravity  of  the  world. 
The  uncleanness  hence  arising  signified  the  spiritual  defile- 
ment to  which  God's  people  are  liable  from  contact  M'ith 
evil.  Hence,  the  grades  of  defilement,  consequent  upon 
the  closeness  and  fellowship  of  the  contact,  and  the  nature 
of  the  uncleanness  with  which  it  took  place.  These  were 
designed  to  teach  the  lesson  with  which  James  crowns  his 


110  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

definition  of  pure  religion  and  undefiled.  "To  A«ep  him- 
self  unspotted  from  tlie  world." — James  i,  27.  The  same 
idea  is  presented  by  the  beloved  John.  "We  know  that 
whosoever  is  born  of  God  sinneth  not;  but  he  that  is  be- 
gotten of  God  keepeth  himself,  and  that  wicked  one"  (that 
"  unclean  spirit,"  the  representative  and  source  of  all  moral 
evil)  "  toucheth  him  not"  (to  defile  him,  as  w^ould  the 
touch  of  the  leper  or  the  unclean).  "And  we  know  that 
we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness." 
-Literally, — "  lieth  in  that  v>'icked  one," — in  his  bosom,  and 
the  defilement  of  his  contact  and  communion.  (1  John  v, 
18,  19.)  And,  again,  "Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of 
God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be ;  but  we 
know  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for 
we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  And  every  man  that  hath  this 
hope  in  him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure." — 1  John 
iii,  2,  3. 

Fronr  many  such  Scriptures,  the  meaning  of  these  un- 
cleannesses  and  of  the  self-washings  is  easily  gathered. 
The  defilements  which  they  symbolized  are  not  of  a  radical 
nature,  but  extrinsic  and  superficial.  They  represented 
those  spiritual  defilements, — those  soilings  of  heart  and 
conscience  to  which  God's  people  are  subject  through  con- 
tact and  intercourse  with  an  ungodly  world.  It  is  postu- 
lated only  of  those  whose  hearts  have  already  been  quick- 
ened and  sanctified  by  the  blood  and  Spirit  of  Christ, 
"  once  for  all"  (Heb.  x,  10);  and  who  are  "the  habitation 
of  God  through  the  Spirit."  They  do  not  require  a  new 
atonement  and  renewing  of  the  Spirit,  but  the  exercise 
of  the  graces  of  that  Spirit  which  is  already  in  them.  For 
their  cleansing,  therefore,  no  new  sacrificial  rites  nor  ofift- 
cial  administrator  were  appointed ;  but  they  were  required 
to  wash  themselves.  This  did  not  prohibit  the  employment 
of  any  customary  assistance  in  the  washing ;  as,  for  exam- 
ple, that  of  a  servant  pouring  water  on  the  hands.  But 
such  assistance,  if  employed,  was  merely  ministerial,  and 


Sec.  XXVI.]      GRADATION  OF  SELF-WASHINGS.  Ill 

not  official.  The  washing,  however  performed,  was  the 
duty  and  act  of  the  subject  of  it,  and  therein  lay  its  sig- 
nificance. Its  language  was  that  of  the  apostle:  "Hav- 
ing, therefore,  these  promises,  dearly  beloved,  let  us  cleanse 
ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  perfect- 
ing holiness  in  the  fear  of  God." — 2  Cor.  vii,  1. 

The  termination  of  the  defilement,  upon  the  perform- 
ance of  the  appointed  self-washing,  with  the  going  down 
of  the  sun,  certified  the  deliverance  of  God's  people  from 
sin  and  corruption,  with  the  end  of  this  present  life,  in  the 
coming  rest  of  the  believer's  grave,  awaiting  the  seventh 
day  of  resurrection  and  glory. 

Section  XXVI. — Gradation  of  the  Self  washings. 

There  was  a  noticeable  gradation  in  the  self-washings. 

1.  First  was  the  washing  of  the  hands,  alone.  This 
was  required  of  the  magistrates  expiating  a  concealed  mur- 
der. (Deut.  xxi,  6.)  It  is  also  indicated  in  Leviticus  xv,  11. 
It  will  be  further  examined  hereafter.  The  figure  of 
washing  the  hands,  as  expressive  of  innocence  and  purity, 
occurs  repeatedly  in  the  Scriptures ;  and  as  the  hands  are 
the  ordinary  instruments  of  the  actions  and  labors  of  life, 
the  meaning  of  the  figure  is  very  manifest.  Says  Job,  in 
his  complaint  to  God,  "  If  I  wash  myself  with  snow  water, 
and  make  my  hands  never  so  clean,  yet  shalt  thou  plunge 
me  in  the  ditch,  and  mine  own  clothes  shall  abhor  me." — 
Job  ix,  30,  31.  That  is,  "  Though  I  give  the  utmost  heed 
to  conform  my  whole  life  and  conduct  to  the  requirements 
of  thy  holiness,  yet,  in  the  severity  and  penetration  of  thy 
judgment,  thou  \s\\i  discover  and  reveal  me  to  myself  as 
utterly  unclean."  The  psalmist  has  recourse  to  the  same 
figure,  in  a  happier  spirit.  "I  will  wash  mine  hands  in 
innocency,  so  will  I  compass  thine  altar,  O  Lord ;  that  I 
may  publish  with  tlie  voice  of  thanksgiving,  and  tell  of 
all  thy  wondrous  works." — Ps.  xxvi,  6,  7. 

2.  Next  in  the  order  of  these  observances   was   the 


112  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV- 

ordinance  requiring  tlie  priests  to  wash  their  hands  and  feet 
in  preparation  for  the  duties  of  their  ministry  at  the  sanc- 
tuary.    This  will  be  discussed  hereafter. 

3.  In  certain  milder  forms  of  uncleanness  till  the  even, 
the  person  was  required  to  wash  his  clothes,  merely.  This 
rule  applied  to  such  as  he  that  ate  or  slept  in  a  house  shut 
up  on  suspicion  of  leprosy  (Lev.  xiv,  47)  ;  and  he  that 
carried  an  unclean  carcase,  or  ate  unclean  flesh.  (Lev  xi, 
25,  28,  40.)  From  the  time  when  our  first  parents,  in  the 
conscious  nakedness  of  guilt,  made  themselves  aprons  of 
fig-leaves,  which  the  Lord  replaced  with  coats  of  skms,  the 
garments  had  a  recognized  significance,  which  is  traceable 
long  before  the  giving  of  the  law ;  and,  running  through 
all  the  Scriptures,  gives  form  to  the  imagery  of  the  last 
book  of  all.  When  Jacob,  on  his  return  from  Chaldea, 
was  required  by  God  to  go  to  Bethel  and  erect  an  altar, 
he  called  on  his  household  and  followers  to  be  clean  and 
change  their  garments  (Gen.  xxxv,  2) ;  that  is,  to  put 
off  their  soiled  garments  and  put  on  clean.  So,  at  Sinai, 
in  prej^aration  for  its  transactions,  Moses  was  directed  to 
"sanctify  the  people  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  let  them 
w^ash  their  clothes." — Ex.  xix,  10,  14. 

A  few  other  Scriptures  will  develop  the  meaning  of  this 
symbol.  In  the  vision  of  Zechariah  :  "  He  showed  me 
Joshua  the  high-priest,  standing  before  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  and  Satan  standing  at  his  right  hand  to  resist  him. 
And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  The  Lord  rebuke  thee,  O 
Satan ;  even  the  Lord  that  hath  chosen  Jerusalem  rebuke 
thee:  Is  not  this  a  brand  plucked  out. of  the  fire?  Now 
Joshua  was  clothed  with  filthy  garments  and  stood  before 
the  angel.  And  he  answered  and  spake  to  those  that  stood 
before  him,  saying,  Take  away  the  filthy  garments  from 
him.  And  unto  him  he  said,  Behold  I  have  caused  thine 
iniquity  to  pass  from  thee,  and  I  will  clothe  thee  with 
change  of  raiment." — Zech.  iii,  1-4.  "Others  save  with 
fear,"  says  Jude,  "  pulhng  them  out  of  the  fire;  hating 


Sec.  XXVI.]      GRADATION  OF  SELF-WASHINGS.  113 

even  the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh." — ^Jude  23.  With 
this  compare  the  definition  of  '*  pure  religion  and  unde- 
filed," — "  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world." — 
Jas.  i,  27.  ''  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis,  which 
have  not  defiled  their  garments ;  and  they  shall  walk  with 
me  in  white;  for  they  are  worthy." — Eev.  iii,  4.  In  his 
visions,  John  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for 
the  word  of  God,  and  a  great  multitude  out  of  every  na- 
tion, "  clothed  with  white  robes."  And  the  angel  told 
him,  ''These  are  they  that  have  washed  their  robes,  and 
made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." — lb.  vi,  11 ; 
vii,  9,  14.  "Behold  I  come  as  a  thief.  Blessed  is  he  that 
watcheth  and  keepeth  his  garments,  lest  he  walk  naked, 
and  they  see  his  shame." — lb.  xvi,  15.  To  the  bride,  the 
Lamb's  wife,  it  "was  granted  that  she  should  be  arrayed 
in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white ;  for  the  fine  linen  is  the 
righteousness  of  saints."- — lb.  xix,  8.  Literally,  "  is  the 
righteousnesses  of  the  saints." 

From  these  Scriptures,  it  is  evident:  that  clean  or 
white  garments  primarily  and  essentially  mean,  the  right- 
eousness of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  which  his  people  are 
robed,  so  that  the  shame  of  their  spiritual  nakedness  may 
not  appear  (Rev.  iii,  18;  vii,  14;  Phil,  iii,  8,  9);  that 
keeping  them  clean,  or  unspotted,  means,  the  maintain- 
ing of  that  watchful  holiness  of  heart  and  life  which  is 
becoming  those  who  have  been  bought  and  robed  as  are 
Christ's  people ;  and  that  washing  the  garments  signifies 
recourse  to  the  blood  and  Spirit  of  Christ,  as  the  only  and 
eficctual  means  of  making  and  keeping  them  free  from 
defilement. 

4.  In  certain  cases,  the  unclean  until  the  even  were  re- 
quired to  wash  their  clothes  and  bathe  their  flesh.  The 
characteristic  examples  of  this  observance,  are  those  who 
had  carried  or  touched  any  thing  on  which  one  defiled  with 
an  issue  had  sat  or  lain.  (Lev.  xv,  5,  6,  etc.)  _  A  careful 
examination  of  this  class,  in  comparison  with  the  preceding, 

10 


114  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

proves  them  to  be  essentially  one  in  meaning,  the  difference 
being  mainly  if  not  entirely  in  degree.  The  defilement  in 
the  present  case  was  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  its  cause 
was  symbolical  of  man's  depravity,  breaking  out  in  active 
corruption  and  transgression.  On  the  other  hand,  the  un- 
clean animals,  from  which  the  milder  form  of  this  unclean- 
ness  was  contracted  represented  the  evil  of  man's  nature, 
simply  as  native  and  indwelling,  Avithout  the  active  ele- 
ment of  outbreaking  depravity  and  wickedness.  Hence, 
the  difference,  in  requiring  the  w^ashing  of  both  the  flesh 
and  the  garments,  was  designed  to  give  emphasis  to  the 
admonition  conveyed;  and  to  teach  the  additional  lesson, 
that  whilst  all  contact  with  the  ungodly  and  the  world  is 
dangerous  to  the  purity  of  Christian  character,  and  renders 
necessary  a  continual  recourse  to  the  sanctifying  power 
and  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  especially  is  this  requisite 
in  case  of  intimate  relations  with  it,  in  its  active  forms  of 
ungodhness  and  corruption,  dissipation  and  riot. 

5.  The  only  other  class,  to  be  enumerated  under  this 
head,  consists  of  those  who,  in  addition  to  other  rites  of 
purifying,  w^ere  required  to  shave  off  their  hair.  Such 
were  lepers,  in  their  cleansing  (Lev.  xiv,  8,  9)  ;  the  Le- 
vites,  upon  their  consecration  (Num.  viii,  7)  ;  a  Nazarite, 
defiled,  before  the  completion  of  his  vow  (Num.  vi,  9) ; 
and  a  captive  woman,  chosen  as  a  bride  (Deut.  xxi,  12). 
With  these  may  be  compared  the  Nazarite,  at  the  comple- 
tion of  his  vow,  although  this  did  not  belong  to  the  cate- 
gory of  purifying.  The  Scriptures  contain  no  formal 
explanation  of  this  requirement.  But  the  nature  and  cir- 
camstances  of  the  cases  as  compared  with  each  other,  and 
the  general  principles  of  typical  analogy,  indicate  the  inter- 
pretation. The  hair  of  the  leper,  for  example,  was  the 
product  and  outgrowth  of  his  leprous  state,  and  must  there- 
fore be  put  off  and  repudiated,  with  his  entrance  (m  the 
the  new  life  of  the  clean.  The  same  principle  applies  to 
all  the  other  cases,  except  that  of  the  Nazarite,  upon  the 


Bec.  XXVII.]  THE  MODE  IMPLIED.  115 

completion  of  his  vow.  His  liair  was  the  product  of  the 
time  during  which,  by  the  consecration  of  his  vow,  all  be- 
longed to  God.  It  could  not,  therefore,  be  retained,  but 
was  shaved  off  and  offered  upon  the  altar,  as  holy.  (Num. 
vi,  18.)  In  the  other  cases,  it  was  cast  away  as  unclean. 
Thus,  as  in  all  the  preceding  regulations,  the  same  lesson 
is  repeated,  which  is  so  needful,  and  to  our  stupidity,  so 
hard  to  learn ; — the  lesson  of  putting  off  the  old  man  and 
putting  on  the  new. 

Section  XXVII. — Mode  implied  in  the  Meaning  of  the  Rite. 

The  instructiveness  and  utility  of  types  and  symbols 
consist  in  an  appreciable  analogy  between  them  and  the 
spiritual  things  which  they  are  appointed  to  symbolize. 
In  the  case  of  the  Old  Testament  self-washings,  I  suppose 
it  has  never  entered  the  imagination  of  any  one  that  they 
were  types  of  the  burial  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Of  such 
an  interpretation  there  is  not  a  trace  anywhere  in  the 
Scriptures.  On  the  contrary,  such  meaning  is  there  attrib- 
uted to  them  that,  in  order  to  a  sustained  analogy,  the  subject 
of  the  rite  should,  by  a  voluntary  and  active  exercise  of  his 
own  powers  take  and  apply  the  water  to  his  members  and 
person,  for  their  cleansing.  In  this  respect,  they  stand  in 
emphatic  contrast  with  the  sprinkled  water  of  purifying. 
That  was  designed  to  concentrate  the  attention  of  Israel 
upon  the  active  agency  of  the  Mediator,  in  bestowing  the 
baptism  of  his  blood  and  Spirit,  for  the  renewing  and 
quickening  of  dead  souls.  In  it,  therefore,  the  subject  was 
the  passive  recipient  of  rites  dispensed  by  the  hands  of  an- 
other. But  the  activity  of  the  Christian  life  and  warfare 
were  symbolized  by  the  self-washings.  Christ's  grace  is 
given  his  people,  not  to  sanction  supineness  and  indolence ; 
but  to  stimulate  to  activity  in  the  pursuit  of  holiness.  As 
the  Spirit  is  now  to  them  an  opened  fountain,  they  are  to 
have  recourse  to  it,  to  seek  and  obtain,  day  by  day,  more 
grace,  for  the   purging  of  the   flesh,  for   overcoming   the 


116  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

world,  for  bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  for  fight- 
ing the  good  fight  of  faith  and  laying  hold  on  eternal  life. 
This,  which  comprehends  the  whole  matter  of  practical 
religion  is  urged  in  the  Scriptures,  not  only  by  direct  and 
continual  admonitions,  but  in  the  use  of  every  variety  of 
figures  and  illustrations.  It  was  the  lesson  taught,  under 
the  figure  of  self-washing.  Pure  water  is  alike  adapted  to 
quicken  the  soil,  to  quench  the  thirst,  and  to  cleanse  the 
garments  and  the  person.  But,  as  the  water  of  life  will 
not  quench  the  thirst  of  the  soul,  unless  we  come  and  drink, 
neither  will  it  purge  away  the  defilements  of  evil,  unless 
we  take  it  and  apply  it,  with  diligence  and  labor.  "  Wash 
ye  I  make  you  clean ;  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings 
from  before  mine  eyes ;  cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well ; 
seek  judgment,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless, 
plead  for  the  widow." — Isa.  i,  16, 17.  The  Spirit  thus  clearly 
indicates  that  self-washing  signified  an  intense  and  life- 
pervasive  activity, — an  activity  applied,  in  detail,  to  each 
particular  relation  and  duty,  so  as  to  purge  out  every  prin- 
ciple of  evil,  and  conform  every  act  to  the  law  of  holiness. 
To  correspond  with  this  meaning  of  the  rite,  its  form  should 
be  such  as  to  call  forth  the  active  energies  of  the  subject, 
by  the  application  of  the  water  to  the  appointed  parts  and 
members  of  the  person  in  detail ;  and  by  such  successive 
manipulation  as  is  proper  to  secure  a  thorough  cleansing. 
The  ordinary  mode  of  washing,  among  Israel,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  perfectly  met  these  requirements ;  whilst  im- 
mersion would  have  been  wholly  inadequate,  not  to  say 
directly  contradictory  to  them,  since  it  indicates  a  mere 
passive  recipieiK^y,  and  not  an  active  appropriation  and  use 
of  the  means  of  cleansing. 

Section  XXVIII. — The  Words  used  to  designate  the 
Washings. 

The  discriminating  use  of  words  on  this  subject,  in  the 
original  Scriptures  is  very  noticeable,  and  is  susceptible  of 


Sec.  XXVIII.]     WORDS  DESIGNATING   THEM.  117 

being  brought  within  the  comprehension  of  any  intelligent 
reader  of  the  English  version.  There  are  three  which  are 
worthy  of  special  notice. 

1.  Shdtaph  means,  to  overflow,  or  rush  over,  as  a 
swollen  torrent  or  a  beating  rain.  Thus, — "Behold  the 
Lord  hath  a  mighty  and  strong  one,  which,  as  a  tempest 
of  hail  and  a  destroying  storm,  as  a  flood  of  mighty  waters 
overflowing,''  shall  beat  down  the  crown  of  pride.  (Isa. 
xxviii,  2.)  Again, — "  Say  unto  them  which  daub  with  un- 
tempered  mortar  that  it  shall  fall ;  there  shall  be  an  over- 
flowmg  shower,"  beating  it  down.  (Ezek.  xiii,  11-14.) 
From  this,  the  radical  meaning  of  the  word,  is  derived  its 
use  to  signify  the  act  of  washing  or  rinsing,  by  means  of 
water  dashed  or  flowed  over  the  object.  It  is  employed  in 
application  to  vessels  of  wood  and  of  brass  (Lev.  vi,  28 ; 
XV,  12),  and  to  the  hands  of  the  unclean.  (lb.  xv,  11.) 
In  all  these  places  it  is  translated,  to  rinse. 

2.  Kahas.  The  radical  meaning  of  this  verb  is,  to 
tread,  to  trample.  The  participle  from  it  is  used  to  desig- 
nate the  craft  of  the  fuller,  who  fulled  his  goods  by  tread- 
ing them  with  the  feet.  Hence  its  use  to  signify  the 
thorough  cleansing  and  whitening  of  clothing  and  stuffs. 
The  word  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  forty-six  times,  with 
this  uniform  meaning.  It  is  used  whenever  the  ritual 
washing  of  clothes  is  spoken  of.  From  it  a  very  strik- 
ing figure  is  derived,  which  appears  t\vice,  to  indicate  the 
most  thorough  self-cleansing,  under  the  idea  of  a  garment 
scoured,  with  "nitre  and  much  soap"  (Jcr.  ii,  22;  iv,  14), 
and  twice,  to  indicate  a  like  thorough  cleansing  wrought  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  "  Wa^h  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity, 
and  cleanse  me  from  my  sin.  .  .  .  Purge  me  with  hyssop, 
and  I  shall  be  clean:  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  wdiiter  than 
snow"  (Psa.  li,  2,  7),  white,  as  a  garment  is  made  by  the 
fuller's  art.  (Mark  ix,  3.)  These  passages  indicate  the 
essential  idea  of  the  word.  It  is  expressive  of  a  scouring, 
or  washing,  which  searches  the  very  texture  of  the  fabric. 


118  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  \Y! kxxt  IV. 

It  is,  however, 3vor thy  of  notice  that  in  the  Targura  of 
Onkelos,  on  Numbers  xix,  19,  it  is  rendered,  "to  sprinkle." 
"Tlie  clean  person  shall  sprinkle  upon  the  unclean,  on  the 
third  day  and  on  the  seventh  day;  and  on  the  seventh 
day  he  shall  be  clean ;  and  he  ^liall  sprinkle  his  raiment, 
and  wash  v/iih  water,  and  at  even  he  shall  be  clean." 
This  rendering  is  very  noteworthy,  as  it  indicates  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  law  w^as  understood  on  this  point.  In 
fact,  as  we  have  already  seen,  sprinkling  signified  the  most 
thorough  cleansing. 

Bdhatz.  While  kdhas  indicates  a  purifying  of  the  sub- 
stance, rdhatz  signifies  a  washing  of  the  surface.  This  is 
the  word  which  is  invariably  used  to  express  the  ritual 
self- washings  or  bathings  of  the  hands,  the  feet,  and  the 
person.  It  is  sometimes  assumed  that,  like  the  English, 
to  wash,  rdhatz  is  strictly  generic  in  its  meaning — that  it 
signifies  to  cleanse  with,  or  in,  water,  without  any  regard 
to  mode.  This  is  an  error,  as  a  single  fact  shows.  It  is 
never  used  for  the  cleansing  of  skins,,  clothes,  or  garments. 
Nor  is  this  an  accidental  omission.  Such  washings  are 
mentioned  nearly  fifty  times,  and  in  nineteen  places  they  are 
brought  into  connection  with  the  bathing  of  the  person. 
But  in  no  one  place  is  the  word  in  question  used  either 
generically,  as  comprehensive  of  both  the  person  and  gar- 
ments, or  specifically  for  the  latter.  In  every  place  where 
the  two  processes  come  in  the  same  connection,  the  lan- 
guage is  accurately  discriminated.  The  directions  are,  to 
wash,  or  scour  (kdbas),  the  clothes,  and  to  bathe  (rdhatz) 
the  filesh.  This  word  occurs  over  seventy  times.  In  five 
or  six  places,  it  applies  to  the  washing  of  sacrificial  flesh, 
before  it  was  placed  on  the  altar.  (Lev.  i,  9,  13,  etc.) 
In  every  other  instance  it  refers  to  ih^  human  person.  It 
expresses  cleansing  with  water  actively  applied  to  the  sur- 
face. Thus,  when  Joseph  ^'ivashed  his  face,"  to  obliterate 
the  traces  of  tears  (Gen.  xliii,  31),  and  when  the  Beloved 
is  described,  ''His  eyes,  as  the  eyes  of  doves  by  the  rivers 


Skc.  XXIX.]  CUSTOMS  AS  TO  ABLUTION.  119 

[rivulets]  of  -waters,  ivashed  with  milk  and  fitly  set"  (Cant. 
Y,  12),  the  reference  is  clearly  to  the  familiar  mode  of 
Avashiug  the  face  with  water  applied.  AVhen  the  Lord,  by 
Isaiah,  speaks  of  the  time  when  he  "shall  have  washed 
away  the  filth  of  the  daughters  of  Zion"  (Isa.  iv,  4),  and 
when  the  Preacher  describes  "a  generation  that  are  pure 
in  their  own  eyes,  and  yet  is  not  ivashed  from  their  filthi- 
ncss"  (Prov.  xxx,  12),  the  idea  presented  is  the  same — 
that  of  water  actively  applied  to  the  surface,  so  as  to  de- 
tach and  carry  off  the  dirt.  In  another  2:>lace  this  defini- 
tion is  even  more  imperatively  indicated.  "Then  (rdhatz) 
washed  I  thee  with  water;  yea  (shdtaph),  1  thoroughly 
washed  away  thy  blood  from  thee,  and  I  anointed  thee 
with  oil." — Ezek.  xvi,  9.  Here  three  things  unite  to  de- 
termine the  meaning  of  rCdmtz.  1.  It  is  explained  by 
shdtaph,  the  signification  of  which  we  have  seen.  2.  The 
defilement  from  which  the  washing  is  promised,  is  that  of 
nidda,  for  which  expressly  the  sprinkled  "water  of  nidda" 
was  appointed  and  named.  3.  The  construction  is  pre- 
cisely the  same  in  the  two  clauses  of  the  verse,  "  I  w^ashed 
thee  with  water,"  and  "I  anointed  thee  ivith  oil."  Of  the 
mode  of  the  latter  there  can  be  no  question.  In  both 
clauses  the  element  named  is  the  instrument  of  the  action 
specified.  The  ideas  of  washing  and  of  immersion  are 
not  merely  different,  but  sharply  contrasted  Avith  each 
other.  "Where  there  is  an  immersion,  there  may  also  be  a 
washing.  But  it  must  be  by  additional  action.  Bcdiatz 
expresses  the  latter.  It  neither  expresses  nor  implies  the 
former. 

Section  XXIX. — The  Mode  of  Domestic  Ablution. 

The  customs  of  Israel  as  to  personal  ablution  would,  it 
is  evident,  decide  the  manner  of  these  self-washings,  in  the 
absence  of  explicit  directions.  The  indications  in  their 
history  are  very  decisive  on  this  point. 

1.  The  patriarchs  were  keepers  of  cattle,  dwelling  in 


120  ^RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV, 

tents.  The  circumstances  of  such  a  mode  of  life  forbid 
the  supposition  that  they  were  accustomed  to  the  use  of 
the  immersion  bath.  The  possession,  the  transportation, 
and  the  use  of  the  requisite  vessels,  are  wholly  foreign  to 
that  mode  of  life. 

2.  Facts  in  the  history  of  the  patriarchs  confirm  the 
correctness  of  the  inference  thus  indicated.  Although  in 
later  ages,  after  Palestine  had  been  pierced  with  wells, 
water  was  abundant  for  all  the  uses  incident  to  the  mode 
of  life  of  the  people,  the  contrary  was  true,  m  earlier 
times.  Surface  streams  are  of  rare  occurrence.  The  sub- 
stratum is  a  cavernous  limestone,  into  the  cavities  of 
which  the  rains  quickly  percolate.  Hagar  and  Ishmael 
were  in  danger  of  perishing  of  thirst,  when  sent  away  by 
Abraham.  (Gen.  xxi,  15.)  Abraham  and  Isaac  relied 
on  digging  for  water;  and  the  scarcity  and  value  of  the 
element  Avere  indicated  by  the  violence  with  w^hich  the 
other  inhabitants  of  the  country  seized  w^ells  digged  by 
each  of  those  patriarchs.  (Gen.  xxi,  25;  xxvi,  19-22.) 
These  were  usually  deep,  and  all  the  water  used  for  per- 
sonal washings,  as  well  as  for  drinking  and  for  culinary  uses, 
must  be  laboriously  drawn  and  carried  by  tlie  maidens  of 
the  camp.  We  can  thus  see  the  bearing  of  the  phrase- 
ology of  Abraham  in  tendering  his  hospitality.  "Let  a 
little  ivater,  I  pray  you,  be  fetched,  and  wash  your  feet." — 
Gen.  xviii,  4. 

3.  We  may  safely  conclude  that  Jacob  and  his  family 
did  not  take  with  them  into  Egypt  the  habit  of  bathing 
by  immersion.  But  may  they  not  have  acquired  it  in  the 
land  of  their  bondage?  It  happens  that  we  have  very 
interesting  evidence  as  to  the  custom  of  the  Egyptians  on 
this  subject.  Sir  J.  Gardner  Wilkinson,  in  his  splendid 
work  on  "  The  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyp- 
tians," gives  an  engraved  copy  of  the  only  pictorial  ii lus- 
tration on  this  subject  found  b}'-  him  among  the  abundant 
remains  of  Egyptian  art.      It  is   taken   from   a  tomb  in 


Sec.  XXIX.]         CUSTOMS  AS  TO  ABLUTION.  121 

Thebes.  In  it,  a  lady  is  represented  with  four  attendants. 
One  removes  the  jewelry  and  clothes  which  she  has  put  off; 
another  pours  water  from  a  vase  over  her  head  :  the  third 
rubs  her  arms  and  body  with  open  Imnds ;  and  a  fourth, 
seated  near  her,  holds  a  flower  to  her  nose,  and  supports 
her,  as  she  sits.  "The  same  subject,"  says  Wilkinson, 
"is  treated  nearly  in  the  same  manner  on  some  of  the 
Greek  vases,  the  water  being  poured  over  the  bather,  wdio 
kneels  or  is  seated  on  the  ground."-^  The  Greeks  were 
colonists  from  Egypt,  with  which  country  their  relations 
were  ahvays  intimate.  And  the  fact,  which  will  hereafter 
appear,  that  this  was  the  only  mode  of  domestic  or  in-door 
bathing,  in  use  among  them,  is  very  significant,  as  to  the 
customs  of  Egypt  on  the  point. 

4.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  insist  on  the  utter  impossi- 
bility of  the  Hebrew  bondmen  having  acquired  in  Egypt 
more  luxurious  habits  than  those  of  their  Egyptian  task- 
masters,— habits,  too,  requiring  much  more  expensive  appli- 
ances, such  as  would  be  necessary  for  immersion-bathing. 
And,  when  they  left  Egpyt,  "  their  kneading  troughs  being 
bound  up  in  their  clothes  upon  their  shoulders"  (Ex. 
xii,  34),  the  supposition  that  they  had  with  them  a  suffi- 
cient supply  of  bath  tubs  to  serve  for  the  continual  immer- 
sions whick,  upon  the  Baptist  theory,  the  Levitical  law 
demanded,  does  not  need  to  be  controverted.  In  fact,  the 
customary  mode  of  washing,  among  Israel,  as  traceable  in 
all  their  history,  was  precisely  that  which  we  have  seen  in  use 
among  the  patriarchs  and  the  Egyptians.  It  was,  with  water 
poured  on,  and  the  necessary  rubbing  by  the  bather  him- 
self, or  by  an  attendant.  This  custom  was  universal  in 
Israel  and  tliroughout  the  east,  from  the  earliest  ages.  At 
first,  the  only  utensil  used  was  a  pitcher  or  jar,  out  of  which 
the  water  was  poured.  A  case  before  referred  to  in  the 
history  of  Abraham  illustrates  the  circumstances  and  man- 
ner of  this  usage.     As  he  sat  in  his  tent  door,  in  the  heat 

*  Wilkinson,  vol.  iii,  p.  388;  Abridged  edition,  ii,  349. 
11 


122  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

of  the  day,  he  saw  three  men  approach.  He  ran  to  salute 
them,  and  said,  "Let  a  httle  water  be  fetched,  and  wash 
your  feet,  and  rest  yourselves  under  the  tree." — Gen.  xviii, 
1-4.  The  washing  was  done  in  the  open  air,  and  the  earth 
received  the  flowing  water.  In  the  same  region,  the  Dead 
Sea  expedition  found  the  same  custom  among  the  tent- 
dwelling  Arabs.  On  one  occasion,  "  having  as  usual  sub- 
mitted to  be  stared  at  and  their  arms  handed  about  and 
inspected,  as  if  they  Avere  on  muster,  water  was  brought 
and  poured  upon  their  hands,  from  a  very  equivocal  water 
jar;  after  which  followed  the  repast."* 

So  long  as  the  simplicity  of  tent  life  was  maintained, 
this  was  all-sufiicient.  But,  afterward,  the  convenience  of 
a  bowl  or  basin  was  added,  which  was  so  placed  as  to  catch 
the  water,  as  it  flowed  off*,  in  Avashing,  thus  preventing  the 
wetting  of  the  floor.  The  water,  once  used,  was  not  ap- 
plied a  second  time,  but  rejected,  as  being  defiled.  The 
examples  of  Bathsheba  and  Susanna  indicate  that,  in  bath- 
ing the  person,  even  in  the  later  times,  the  primitive  custom 
still  so  far  survived  that  resort  was  sometimes  had  to  a 
retired  place  outside  the  house;  no  doubt  because  of  the 
inconvenience  of  flooding  the  floor  with  the  water,  as  it  was 
poured  over  the  person.  "The  History  of  Susanna,"  (one 
of  the  Apocryphal  books),  dates  as  far  back  aslwo  centu- 
ries before  Christ.  The  heroine  is  described  as  an  emi- 
nently modest  and  virtuous  woman.  Her  husband,  Joachim, 
"was  a  rich  man,  and  had  a  fair  garden  adjoining  his 
house."  His  house  was  a  place  of  resort  to  the  Jews,  and 
the  magistrates  commonly  sat  there,  to  exercise  their  office. 
It  was  Susanna's  custom  to  walk  in  the  garden  at  noon, 
after  the  people  had  left  the  house.  Two  of  the  elders  are 
described  as  plotting  against  her.  "And  it  fell  out,  as  they 
watched  a  fit  time,  she  went  in  as  before  with  two  maids 
only,  and  she  was  desirous  to  wash  herself  in  the  garden ; 
for  it  was  hot.  And  there  was  nobody  there  save  the  two 
*  Lynch's  Dead  Sea  Expedition,  p.  206. 


Sec.  XXIX.]         CUSTOMS  AS  TO  ABLUTION.  123 

elders,  that  had  hid  themselves  and  watched  her.  Then 
she  said  to  her  maids,  Briug  me  oil  aud  washing  balls,  and 
shut  the  garden  doors,  that  I  may  wash.  Aud  they  did 
as  she  had  bade  them,  and  shut  the  garden  doors,  and 
went  out  themselves  at  private  doors,  to  fetch  the  things 
that  she  had  commanded  them."  Her  purpose  is  prevented 
by  the  appearance  of  the  two  elders,  from  whose  false  accu- 
sation she  is  in  the  sequel  rescued  by  the  famous  ''judgment 
of  Daniel."  The  same  custom  is  illustrated  by  the  case  of 
Pharaoh's  daughter  at  the  finding  of  Moses,  and  by  the 
Egyptian  picture,  from  Wilkinson.  A  signal  proof  of  the 
prevalence  of  the  custom  of  washing  with  water  poured 
on  by  an  attendant,  presents  itself,  in  the  fact  that  the 
designation  of  a  body  servant,  or  personal  attendant,  was 
derived  from  it.  Elisha  the  prophet  had  been  the  minister 
or  attendant  of  Elijah,  before  the  translation  of  the  latter. 
Of  this  relation,  king  Jehoshaphat  was  informed  by  the 
statement  that  it  was  he  "  which  poured  water  on  the  hands 
of  Elijah."— 2  Kings  iii,  11. 

The  circumstances  render  it  certain  that  this  was  the 
form  of  washing  in  the  expiation  of  a  concealed  murder. 
The  elders  of  the  nearest  city  were  required  to  take  an  un- 
broken heifer  down  into  a  rough  and  uncultivated  valley 
or  gorge,  and  there,  in  the  presence  of  the  priests,  strike 
off  its  head,  wash  their  hands  over  the  carcass,  and  call 
God  to  witness  their  innocence  in  the  matter.  Thus,  the 
water  flowing  from  their  hands  upon  the  carcass,  transferred 
to  it  and  the  barren  spot  where  it  lay  the  putative  guilt 
of  the  crime.     (Deut.  xxi,  3-9.) 

From  this  ordinance,  the  form  seems  to  have  become  a 
familiar  mode  of  protesting  innocence  of  crime,  and  is  mem- 
orable for  that  occasion  when  Pilate  "  took  water  and 
washed  his  hands  before  the  multitude,  saying,  I  am  inno- 
cent of  the  blood  of  this  just  person  :  see  ye  to  it." — Matt, 
xxvii,  24.  Two  primitive  representations  of  this  scene,  in 
sculptured  rehef,   have  been  found  in  the  catacombs  at 


124  RITUAL  SELF-  WASHLNGS.  [Pakt  IV. 

Rome.  They  date  from  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era.  In  them  the  wife  of  Pilate  appears  in  the  background, 
with  averted  face.  An  attendant  holds  a  vase  or  pitcher 
in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  a  bowl :  while  Pilate  sits 
rubbing  his  hands.  The  position  of  the  bowl  shows  it  to 
be  empty.  ' '  The  mode  of  washing  implied  in  the  empty 
bowl  is  characteristic.  In  the  east,  the  water  is  still  poured 
from  the  vase  over  the  hands,  and  caught  in  the  bowl,  so 
that  it  should  not  pass  over  them  twice."* 

The  manner  of  washing  the  feet  is  illustrated  by  a  fact 
in  the  life  of  our  Savior.  At  dinner,  in  the  house  of  Simon, 
the  Pharisee,  a  woman  that  was  a  sinner  "  brought  an  ala- 
baster box  of  oiutment  and  stood  at  his  feet,  behind  him, 
weeping,  and  began  to  wash  his  feet  with  tears,  aud  did 
w^pe  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head,  and  kissed  his  feet, 
and  anointed  them  with  the  ointment." — Luke  vii,  37,  38, 
44.  But  how  was  it  possible  for  the  woman,  coming  be- 
hind him  at  table,  to  get  access  to  his  feet :  wdiich,  accord- 
ing to  our  custom,  would  be  concealed  under  the  table? 
The  ordinary  mode  of  sitting,  in  the  east,  then  as  now, 
was,  on  the  ground  or  floor,  squat,  cross-legged,  or  re- 
clining. Chairs  were  not  in  common  use,  but  were  re- 
served for  purposes  of  state,  and  used  almost  exclusively 
by  dignitaries.  In  later  times  a  bench  or  settee  was  intro- 
duced, which  was  without  a  back.  Whether  on  it  or  the 
fl.oor,  the  usual  position,  in  eating  Avas  the  same.  The 
guests  reclined  on  the  left  elbow,  leaving  the  right  hand 
free.  The  person  next  on  the  right  thus  leaned  toward  or 
against  the  breast  of  him  who  was  at  the  head.  (John 
xiii,  23.)  The  feet  were  draw^n  up  behind.  Persons  who 
wore  sandals,  always,  on  entering  a  house,  left  them  at  the 
door.  These  were  not  ordinarily  w^orn  by  the  common  peo- 
ple, but  only  upon  occasions  of  special  travel ;  and  our  Sa- 
vior, therefore,  forbade  his  disciples  to  take  time  to  provide 

•■■  Maitland's  "Church  of  the   Catacombs,"  p.  261.     Also, 
Withrow's  "  Catacombs,"  p.  333. 


Skc.  XXIX.]  CUSTOMS  AS  TO  ABLUTION.  125 

them,  in  the  haste  of  the  mission  on  wliich  he  first  sent 
them  to  preach.  (Matt,  x,  10 ;  Luke  x,  4.)  They  poorly 
protected  the  feet  from  the  soiling  and  roughness  of  the 
way.*  Decency,  therefore,  and  comfort  both, — especially 
in  the  case  of  guests  coming  from  a  distance,  required  that 
the  feet  should  be  washed,  immediately  upon  entrance,  and 
the  addition  of  oil  or  ointment  was  not  only  agreeable, 
for  the  perfumes  commonly  mixed  with  it,  but  very  sooth- 
ing and  grateful  to  the  weary  and  excoriated  feet.  It  was 
one  of  the  first  obligations  of  hospitality  to  provide  for  this 
washing  of  the  feet  of  guests.  (Gen.  xviii,  4  ;  xix,  2  ;  etc.) 
Where  special  respect  was  intended,  the  office  was  some- 
times performed  by  the  master  of  the  house,  or  his  wife. 
As  the  guest  reclined,  his  feet  projecting  over  the  edge  of 
the  seat  behind  him,  a  basin  was  placed  beneath,  so  as  to 
receive  the  flowing  water,  as  it  was  poured  over  them.  To 
this  mode  there  is  an  allusion  in  the  language  of  our  Sav- 
ior, to  Simon  the  Pharisee,  upon  the  occasion  just  referred 
to,  which  is  lost  in  our  translation.  "  I  entered  thine  house. 
Water  upon  my  feet  thou  didst  not  give." — Luke  vii,  44. f 
So,  the  night  of  the  betrayal,  Jesus  took  water  and  a  towel 
and  washed  and  wiped  the  disciples'  feet,  as  they  reclined ; 
and  thus  the  w^oman  came  behind  him  at  the  table,  and 
bedewed  his  feet  with  her  tears.  To  this  customary  rite 
of  hospitality  Paul  refers,  when  he  describes  a  wddow^ — "if 
she  have  lodged  strangers,  if  she  have  washed  the  saints' 
feet." — 1  Tim.  v,  10.     To  it,  Abigail  alludes,  when,  in  re- 


*  "  Several  of  them  [Arabs  of  the  Jordan]  wore  sandals,  a 
rude  invention  to  protect  the  feet.  It  was  a  thick  piece  of  hide, 
confined  by  a  thong  passing  under  the  sole  at  the  hollow  of  the 
foot,  around  the  heel,  and  between  the  great  toe  and  the  one 
which  adjoins  it."— Lynch's  "  Dead  Sea  Expedition,"  p.  282. 
These  thongs  were  the  "latchets"  of  Mark  i,  7. 

t "  'YfJwo  knl  rovq  TrofJac  ^ov  ovk  £f5cj/caf."  The  preposition,  ctt^, 
with. the  accusative,  means  iipon,  with  the  idea  of  previous  or 
present  motion, — to  wit,  (in  this  place,)  of  the  water,  poured 
and  flowing  upon  the  feet. 


126  RITUAL  SELF-  WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

sponse  to  David's  offer  of  marriage,  she  replies, — "  Behold, 
let  thine  handmaid  be  a  servant,  to  wash  the  feet  of  the  serv- 
ants of  my  lord." — 1  Sara,  xxv,  41,  If  the  ritual  bathings 
of  Israel  were  immersions,  the  mode  was  without  precedent 
in  the  domestic  habits  of  the  people;  as  it  was  without 
prescription  in  the  law. 

Section  XXX. — T/ie  Facilities  requisite. 

Not  only  was  the  rite  of  immersion  without  precedent 
in  the  domestic  customs  of  Israel.  It  was  wholly  imprac- 
ticable as  an  observance  to  be  fulfilled  with  the  frequency 
of  the  ritual  washings  of  the  law.  On  this  point,  dehcacy 
forbids  unnecessary  detail.  But  an  examination  of  the 
various  requirements  on  the  subject  of  uncleanness,  and 
especially  as  contained  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Leviticus, 
will  establish  the  fact  that  recourse  to  those  washings,  was 
a  matter  of  constant, — almost  daily, — necessity,  in  every 
household,  and  for  both  men  and  women.  In  order  to  ful- 
fil these  obligations,  the  supposition  that  immersion  was 
the.  mode  would  render  two  things  imperatively  necessary 
in  every  family, — a  very  large  supply  of  water; — and  a 
capacious  bath-tub  or  tank  in  which  the  immersions  might 
be  performed.  As  to  these  points,  but  few  words  are  nec- 
essary. The  people  of  Israel  did  not  usually  live  on  their 
lands  in  the  country ;  but,  like  all  other  populations  of  the 
east,  were  gathered  in  towns  and  villages,  to  which  they 
resorted  at  night;  going  forth  in  the  day-time  to  their 
labors  in  the  field.  This  mode  of  life  was  rendered  neces- 
sary to  avoid  exposure  to  the  depredations  of  bands  of 
wandering  marauders;  and  was  equally  congenial  to  the 
social  disposition  and  habits  of  the  people.  The  population 
of  each  village  was  accustomed  to  depend,  for  the  supply 
of  water,  upon  a  well  to  which  all  resorted,  and  which  was 
usually  near  the  gate  of  the  village.  From  this  source, 
each  household  was  supplied ;  the  water  being  carried  in 
pitchers,  or  jars,  on   the  shoulders  of  the  females  of  the 


Sec.  XXX.]  THE  FACILITIES  REQUISITE.  127 

family.*  It  is  unnecessary  to  protract  argument.  The 
facts  are  of  themselves  conclusive.  The  washings  can  not 
have  been  immersions. 

This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  absence  of  vessels 
of  any  kind  suited  to  the  performance  of  such  a  rite. 
Neither  in  the  Old  Testament  nor  the  New,  neither  in  the 
Apocrypha,  Philo,  nor  Josephus  is  there  any  mention  of 
such  facilities,  or  such  a  rite^  nor  allusion  to  them.  In 
fact,  with  all  the  advantages  and  appliances  of  modern 
civilization,  there  is  not,  and  there  never  was  a  people  on 
the  globe  of  whom  one  in  a  hundred  could  comply  with 
the  law  of  Moses,  if  interpreted  in  the  Baptist  sense. 
And  it  is  certain  that  no  primitive  people  ever  adopted 
that  mode  of  domestic  bathing — a  mode  which  impHes  a 
very  great  advance  in  luxury  and  its  appliances.  The 
Greeks  themselves  did  not  use  it,  except  as  they  sometimes 
resorted  to  rivers  and  streams.  In  their  arrangements  for 
bathing,  domestic  and  public,  the  immersion  bath  was  un- 
known until  introduced  with  the  luxury  of  imperial  Rome. 
In  Homer's  description  of  the  bath  of  Ulysses  in  the  pal- 
ace of  Circe,  the  hero  is  described  as  seated  in  a  vessel 
which  contained  no  water,  but  was  designed  to  receive 
that  which  was  poured  over  him;  and  the  bathing  was 
performed  in  a  manner  identical  with  that  which  we  have 
seen  practiced  in  Egypt.  In  the  remains  of  antique  Greek 
art,  the  bath  is  frequently  represented.  But  the  mode  is 
invariably  the  same.  The  bather  is' placed  hedde  the  ves- 
sel containing  the  water,  which  is  taken  thence  in  a  dipper 
or  jar,  and  poured  over  him.f 

Homer's  description  of  the  bath  of  Ulysses  is  thus  ren- 
dered by  Bryant: 

A  nymph— "the  fourth 
Brought  water  from  the  fountain,  and  beneath 
A  massive  tripod  kindled  a  great  fire, 

*Gen.  xxiv,  13,  — ;  Ex.  ii,  15-10;  Judges  v,  11  ;  Ruth  ii, 
1-4;  2  Sam.  xxiii,  15 ;  1  Sam.  ix,  11  ;  John  iv,  7;  Matt,  xx,  1-7. 

tSee  Wilkinson,  above  quoted,  and  Smith's  Greek  and 
Roman  Antiquities,  article   "Balnese;"  and  below  pp.  200,  207. 


128  ,  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

And  warmed  the  water.     When  it  boiled,  within 
The  shining  brass,  she  led  me  to  the  bath, 
And  washed  me  from  the  tripod.     On  my  head 
And  shoulders,  pleasantly,  she  shed  the  streams 
That  from  my  members  took  away  the  sense 
Of  weariness,  unmanning  body  and  mind."* 

Section  XXXI. — The  Washings  of  the  Priests. 

Writers  upon  the  types  and  symbols  of  the  Scriptures 
too  often  fail  to  recognize  or  appreciate  their  unity,  sym- 
metry, and  completeness  as  a  system,  and  the  just  propor- 
tion and  propriety  of  each  several  part  in  its  relation  to 
the  whole.  That  such  must  have  been  their  character 
was  impressively  intimated  to  Israel  by  the  emphasis  with 
which  Moses  was  admonished  to  "look  that  thou  make 
them  after  their  pattern,  Avhich  was  shewed  thee  in  the 
mount." — Ex.  xxv,  40;  xxvii,  8;  Num.  viii,  4.  The  rea- 
son of  this  particularity  is  stated  by  Paul.  "Who  serve 
unto  the  example  and  shadow  of  heavenly  things,  as  Moses 
was  admonished  of  God  when  he  was  about  to  make  the 
tabernacle;  for,  See,  saith  he,  that  thou  make  all  things 
according  to  the  pattern  showed  to  thee  in  the  mount." — 
Heb.  viii,  5.  The  tabernacle  and  its  appurtenances  were  a 
systematic  and  luminous  exposition  of  the  plan  of  grace. 
Approaching  it  from  wdthont,  the  first  object  that  preseuted 
itself  was  the  brazen  altar  of  burnt-offering,  exhibiting  the 
price  of  redemption.  Between  it  and  the  door  of  the  tab- 
ernacle stood  the  laver,  the  pure  water  of  which  symbol- 
ized the  Holy  Spirit,  through  whom  is  the  washing  of 
regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  essen- 
tial condition  precedent  to  admittance  to  the  fold  of  Christ. 
Entering  the  tabernacle,  the  first  apartment  represented 
the  church  on  earth,  the  fold  of  the  covenant.  In  it  the 
light  always  shone  from  the  seven  branched  golden  candle- 
stick, the  lamps  of  which,  continually  replenished  with  oil 
by  the  priest,  symbolized  the  church  shining  as  the  light 
of  the  Avorld,  through  the  oil  of  grace,  the  unction  of  the 

*  Bryant's  Odyssey,  Book  X,  429-437. 


Skc.  XXXI.]  WASHINGS  OF  THE  PRIESTS.  129 

Holy  Oue,  raiDistered  by  our  great  High  Priest.  The 
table  of  show  bread  always  supplied  with  twelve  loaves, 
according  to  the  number  of  the  twelve  tribes,  set  forth  that 
Bread  of  life  ever  abundant  for  all,  which  nourishes  the 
people  of  God  in  the  earthly  church,  in  preparation  for  the 
heavenly.  Immediately  before  the  veil,  and  before  the  ark 
of  the  covenant  in  the  holy  of  holies  stood  the  altar  of  in- 
cense, the  fire  of  which,  kindled  with  coals  from  the  altar 
of  burnt-offering,  set  forth  the  prayers  of  God's  people, 
made  acceptable  and  fragrant  before  the  throne,  by  virtue 
of  the  atonement  and  intercession  of  Christ.  Within  the 
veil, — thin  curtain  between  the  earthly  and  the  heavenly 
house, — the  mercy  seat  covering  the  ark,  and  the  tables  of 
the  covenant  law  enclosed  therein,  represented  the  throne 
of  God's  grace  resting  upon  the  firm  foundation  of  liis 
eternal  law,  thus  showing  that  mercy  to  man  is  conditioned 
upon  satisfaction  to  that  law  by  the  blood  of  atonement 
sprinkled  there.  All  the  other  features  of  the  system,  its 
rites  and  ceremonies,  were  constructed  and  ordered  in  a 
strictly  symmetrical  and  congruous  relation  to  these.  A 
recollection  of  these  points  will  aid  in  a  just  appreciation 
of  the  points  involved  in  the  present  discussion. 

Of  the  form  and  dimensions  of  the  laver,  the  Scriptures 
give  no  account,  except  that  it  stood  on  a  foot  or  pedestal. 
(Ex.  XXX,  18.)  It  was,  however,  of  such  size  and  propor- 
tions as  to  be  carried  about  with  Israel  in  their  journey- 
ings,  probably  with  bars,  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
Levites,  as  was  the  altar.  In  preparing  facilities  for  the 
purpose  of  immersion,  our  Baptist  brethren  invariably 
sink  the  f  )nt  to  such  a  level  that  the  minister  and  the 
subjects  of  the  rite  may  descend  into  it.  And  this  arrange- 
ment is  a  dictate,  not  of  convenience  only,  but  of  decency, 
in  the  performance  of  the  servnce.  But,  to  suppose  the 
laver  sufficiently  large  and  deep  to  serve  as  an  immersion 
font,  and  then  place  it  upon  a  pedestal,  involves  an  eleva- 
tion which  must  have  rendered  it,  practically,  inaccessible 


130  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Paet  IV. 

for  such  purposes,  and  precludes  the  idea  that  it  was  in- 
tended to  be  so  used.  In  fact,  the  laver  was  not  a  bath 
tub,  nor  ever  used  as  such,  but  a  containing  vessel  from 
which  was  drawn  water  for  all  the  uses  of  the  sanctuary. 
The  engravings  which  appear  on  pages  200,  207  below, 
precisely  correspond  with  the  Mosaic  description  of  the 
laver,  and  probably  give  a  very  closely  approximate  idea 
of  its  form,  size,  and  proportions. 

In  the  temple  of  Solomon,  the  one  laver  of  the  taber- 
nacle was  replaced  by  a  "  sea  of  brass,"  and  ten  la  vers. 
The  sea  was  appropriated  to  the  washings  of  the  priests, 
whilst  the  lavers  were  used  for  washing  the  sacrifices. 
That  they  were  used  as  fountains  of  supply,  and  not  as 
vessels  in  which  the  sacrifices  were  washed,  appears  from 
the  fact  that  they  rested  on  bases  four  cubits  square,  by 
three  cubits  high,  and  were  of  the  same  proportions.  (1 
Kings  vii,  27,  38.)  The  Hebrew  text  gives  the  length, 
breadth,  and  height  of  the  bases,  but  only  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  lavers.  The  Septuagint  and  Josephus  give 
the  former  dimensions,  and  add  the  height  of  the  lavers — 
three  cubits.  Thus,  the  bottoms  of  the  lavers  were  four 
and  a  half  feet  above  the  pavement  on  which  they  stood, 
and  their  brims,  nine  feet  above  it.  They  were,  moreover, 
provided  with  wheels,  so  as  to  be  removed  from  place  to 
place,  as  occasion  required.  That  the  sacrifices  were  not 
immersed  in  them  is  evident.  The  Talmud  states  that 
they  were  washed  upon  marble  tables;  and  this  is  the 
mode  for  which  provision  is  made  in  the  vision  of  Eze- 
kiel.     (Ezek.  xl,  38-43.) 

The  sea  of  brass  was  ten  cubits  in  diameter,  and  five 
cubits  high;  that  is,  about  fifteen  feet  by  seven  and  a  half, 
It  was  elevated  on  twelve  brazen  oxen,  the  height  of  which 
is  not  given.  But  if  we  allow  them  no  greater  height 
than  the  bases  of  the  lavers,  the  whole  height  was  about 
twelve  feet;  a  height  not  suggestive  of  convenience  for 
immersions. 


Bkc.  xxxl]       washings  of  the  priests.  131 

2.  The  brazeu  sea  was  no  part  of  the  tabernacle  furni- 
ture when  God  directed  Moses  to  "bring  Aaron  and  his 
sons  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation 
and  wash  them  with  water." — Ex.  xl,  12;  comp.  xxix,  4. 
"And  Moses  said  unto  the  congregation,  This  is  the  thing 
which  the  Lord  commanded  to  be  done.  And  Moses 
brought  Aaron  and  his  sons  and  washed  them  with 
water." — Lev.  viii,  5,  6.  Eespecting  this,  the  facts  are  so 
evident  as  to  admit  but  one  conclusion.  (1.)  The  com- 
mand given  was  not  to  immerse  Aaron  and  his  sous,  but 
{rdhatz),  to  wash  them,  according  to  the  proper  meaning 
of  that  word,  as  already  shown,  and  after  the  ordinary 
manner  of  ablution.  (2.)  The  transaction  is  thrice  de- 
scribed, in  the  places  referred  to  above;  but  the  laver  is 
not  once  mentioned,  nor  any  means  of  immersion.  (3.) 
The  place  of  the  washing  is  so  described  as  to  exclude  im- 
mersion. Thrice  repeated,  it  is  still,  "ai  the  door,"  of  the 
tabernacle.  (Lev.  viii,  4.)  If  the  priests  were  immersed, 
on  this  occasion'  the  laver  was  the  ouly  vessel  in  which  it 
can  have  been  done;  and,  not  only  was  it  so  constructed 
as  to  render  its  use  impossible,  but  the  language  of  the 
account  is  such  as  to  conceal  the  fact.  But  here  was 
no  immersion.  As  commanded,  Moses  washed  Aaron  and 
his  sons. 

3.  When  Moses  was  ordered  to  make  the  laver,  its  pur- 
pose was  stated:  "Aaron  and  his  sons  shall  w^ash  their 
hands  and  their  feet  thereat ;  when  they  go  into  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation,  they  shall  wash  with  water,  that 
they  die  not;  or,  w^hen  they  come  near  to  the  altar,  to  min- 
ister, to  burn  offering  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord.  So 
they  shall  wash  their  hands  and  their  feet,  that  they  die 
not:  and  it  shall  be  a  statute  for  ever  to  them,  even  to 
him  and  to  his  seed  throughout  their  generations." — Ex. 
XXX,  19-21.  Not  only  were  the  priests  thus  to  wash  their 
hands  and  their  feet,  but  also  certain  parts  of  the  sacrifices. — 
"The  priests,  Aaron's  sons,  shall  lay  the  parts,  the  head 


132  RITUAL  SELF-VVASHINGS.  [Paut  IV. 

and  the  fat  in  order  upon  the  wood  that  is  on  the  fire 
which  is  upon  the  altar ;  but  his  inwards  and  his  legs  shall 
he  wash  in  water;  and  the  priest  shall  burn  all  on  the 
altar."— Lev.  i,  8,  9,  13 ;  viii,  21 ;  ix,  14. 

Should  we  set  aside  the  arguments  arising  from  the 
meaning  of  the  word  employed, — from  the  customs  of  the 
people  as  to  personal  ablutions, — and  from  the  form  and  ele- 
vation of  the  laver,  the  present  facts  discover  an  insurmount- 
able objection  to  the  idea  of  immersion.  Or,  will  it  be 
insisted  that  the  priests  as  they  came  into  the  sanctuary  at 
the  appointed  times  of  service,  successively,  climbed  to  the 
top  of  the  laver  and,  balancing  on  its  brim,  immersed  their 
hands  and  feet;  and,  then,  in  fulfillment  of  their  official 
duties,  immersed  in  the  water  thus  fouled,  the  inwards,  or 
bowels  and  intestines,  and  the  pieces  of  the  sacrifices,  about 
to  be  ofiered  to  God?  The  supposition  Vvould  be  indecent 
and  profane.  And  yet,  this  is  the  unavoidable  result  of 
demanding  immersion,  in  this  case.  For,  the  same  lan- 
guage is  used  in  requiring  the  washing  of  the  priests  and 
of  the  sacrifices,  and  there  was  but  one  laver,  to  supply  all 
demands  for  water  at  the  sanctuary. 

4.  But,  again:  On  the  day  of  atonement,  the  high 
priest  was  required,  at  a  certain  time  in  the  order  of  observ- 
ances for  the  day,  being  alone  in  the  sanctuary,  to  "  wash 
his  flesh  with  water  in  the  holy  place." — Lev.  xvi,  24. 
Here,  at  least,  there  is  no  room  for  controversv.  The  laver 
was  outside  the  door  of  the  tabernacle.  The  priest  was 
within,  "  in  the  holy  place."  In  it,  there  was  no  vessel  in 
which  an  immersion  could  take  place.  Immersion  was  not 
merely  improbable. — It  was  impossible.  The  circumstances 
compel  us  to  accept  the  language  of  the  place,  just  as  it 
stands ;  and  to  believe  that  the  high  priest,  on  this  occa- 
sion washed  himself,  and  that  he  did  so,  as  all  washings  of 
the  person  are  performed,  ''ivitJi  water,"  as  an  instrumental 
means ;  and  that  it  was  applied  with  his  own  hands  to  his 
own  person. 


Skc.  XXXI.]         WASHINGS  OF  THE  PRIESIS.  133 

5.  Liviug  or  fresh  water  is  the  most  familiar  Scriptural 
symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  is  fully  considered  else- 
where, lu  the  symbolism  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple, 
the  water  of  the  lavers  and  sea  of  brass  was  the  appointed 
symbol  of  that  blessed  Person,  as  the  source  of  all  cleans- 
ing and  sanctifying  influences.  In  this  view,  the  fact  is 
instructive,  that,  in  the  temple  of  Ezekiel's  vision,  (Ezek. 
xl-xlviii)  there  was  no  laver;  but,  instead,  the  waters  of 
the  river  of  life  flowed  from  the  spot  on  which  the  laver 
should  have  stood.  Jewish  tradition  states  the  laver  to 
have  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the  door  of  the  tabernacle, 
which  looked  toward  the  east.  That  was  the  position  of  the 
brazen  sea.  "  He  set  the  sea  on  the  right  side  of  the 
house,  eastward,  over  against  the  south." — 1  Kings  vii,  39. 
"  On  the  right  side  of  the  east  end,  over  against  the 
south." — 2  Chron.  iv,  10.  In  Ezekiel,  "  the  forefront  of  the 
house  stood  toward  the  east,  and  the  waters  came  down 
from  under,  from  the  right  side  of  the  house  at  the  south 
side  of  the  altar." — Ezek.  xlvii,  1.  Nor  is  it  unworthy  of 
consideration,  that,  if  the  laver  was  designed  as  a  bap- 
tistery or  immersion  font,  the  living  stream  described  by 
Ezekiel  was  wholly  inadequate  to  such  a  purpose ;  being, 
at  that  point,  but  a  rivulet,  not  ankle  deep.     (lb.  3-5.) 

6.  The  meaning  of  the  water,  taken  in  connection  with 
the  relation  which  Moses,  by  divine  appointment,  sus- 
tained to  Aaron,  suggests  the  interpretaticm  of  the  washing 
of  the  latter  by  Moses.  Moses  was  to  Aaron  "instead  of 
God"  (Ex.  iv,  16);  and  since  Aaron's  priesthood  was 
typical  of  that  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  it  follows,  that  the 
action  of  Moses,  in  washing  his  brother,  and  then  robing 
him  iu  the  holy  garments  of  the  priesthood,  was  typical 
of  the  agency  of  the  Father,  in  endowing  our  great  High 
Priest,  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  with  a  sinless  humanity, 
(Heb.  X,  5-7)  and  in  it,  investing  him  with  the  eternal 
priesthood  which  he  now  fulfills.  This  washing  of  Aaron 
is  to  be  discriminated  from  his  official  anointing.     The  lat- 


134  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

ter  signified  the  official  gifts  and  qualifications  of  Christ, 
whilst  the  former  had  respect  to  his  birth  and  growth  in 
personal  holiness.     (Luke  ii,  52.) 

7.  The  significance  of  the  feet,  in  the  figurative  sys- 
tem of  the  Scriptures,  appears  in  the  proverb,  which,  among 
the  things  that  the  Lord  hates,  enumerates  "feet  that  be 
swift  in  running  to  mischief." — Prov.  vi,  18.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Psalmist  says, — "I  turned  my  feet  unto  thy 
testimonies." — "  I  refrained  my  feet  from  every  evil  way.'  — 
Ps.  cxix,  59,  101.  The  hands  and  feet,  together,  repre- 
sent, fully,  the  active  energies  of  man.  And  the  priests 
washing  their  hands  and  feet,  when  they  came  to  minister 
at  the  altar  was  typical  of  the  active  righteousness  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  This  is  the  more  apparent,  when  associated 
with  the  other  fact,  that  in  fulfilling  the  office  for  which 
they  thus  washed  themselves,  they  were  required,  as  already 
stated,  to  wash  the  inwards  and  the  legs  of  the  burnt  oflTer- 
ings,  (Lev.  i,  9,  13 ;  etc.)  ;  the  inwards,  or  bowels  repre- 
senting the  afiTections,  and  the  legs  the  active  powers. 
Thus,  the  priests  and  the  sacrifices  together  typified  the 
essential  holiness  and  the  active  obedience  of  the  Lord  Je- 
sus, "  Avho,  through  the  eternal  Spirit,  oflfered  himself, 
without  spot,  to  God." — Heb.  ix,  14.  In  all  this,  there  is 
still  nothing  to  demand,  to  suggest,  or  allow,  the  idea  of 
immersion.  The  significance  of  the  rites  accords  perfectly 
with  all  the  other  irresistible  indications,  which  lead  us  to 
the  conclusion  that  under  no  circumstances  was  immersion 
ever  used  in  the  washings  of  the  priests,  or  the  rites  of  the 
tabernacle  and  temple  service. 

Section  XXXII. — LWe  these  ivere  the  Washings  of  the  People. 

The  conclusion  just  indicated  as  to  the  washings  of  the 
priests,  carries  with  it  a  like  decision  respecting  all  the 
self-performed  washings. 

1.  The  word  rahatz,  to  wash,  is  used  in  the  same  man- 
ner, in  the  directions  given  with  respect  to  all  the  various 


Sec.  XXXII.]      THE  OTHER  SELF-WASHINGS.  135 

cases,  of  hands,  feet  and  person, — of  priests  and  people, 
and  of  the  sacrificial  pieces,  alike. 

2.  The  self-washings  imposed  on  the  people  were  of  the 
same  essential  nature  and  meaning  as  those  of  the  priests. 
In  both,  the  idea  was  that  of. holiness  and  purity  of  heart 
and  hfe,  maintained  by  personal  watchfulness  and  efficiency 
through  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  this  idea  was 
properly  symbolized  by  the  priestly  ablutions  without  im- 
mersion, the  conclusion  is  unavoidable,  that  among  the 
people  immersion  was  unknown.  To  them,  the  mode  used 
by  the  priests  would  be  the  standard  of  propriety. 

3.  It  is  impossible  to  elicit  tiny  consistent  meaning  out 
of  the  supposed  immersions.  The  ritual  system  was  char- 
acterized by  congruity  in  all  its  parts,  and  meaning  every- 
where. AVhat  else  upon  Baptist  principles,  can  the  immer- 
si(ms  be  thought  to  mean,  if  not  the  burial  of  Christ?  But 
how,  then,  are  we  to  understand  the  grades  of  washings, 
of  the  hands,  and  feet,  and  garments,  as  so  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other,  and  from  that  of  the  person? 
What  means  the  fact,  which  is  so  clearly  marked,  that 
these  washings  were  self-performed?  Did  Christ  entomb 
himself?  How  are  we  to  explain  the  washing  of  Aaron  by 
Moses  ?  If  immersion  is  typical  of  the  burial  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  what  pertiuence  could  it  have  to  his  birth  and  in- 
auguration as  priest?  What  mean  the  peculiar  times  at 
which  the  self- washings  were  to  be  performed, — the  priests 
being  required  always  to  wash  hejore  offering  sacrifice  or 
ministering  at  the  altar ;  whilst,  the  unclean  for  seven 
days  performed  the  same  rite  at  the  end  of  the  seven  days, 
a^ier  they  had  been  restored  from  typical  death  ?  Was 
Christ  buried  hejore  he  had  made  of  himself  an  offering  and 
a  sacrifice?  Or,  again,  was  it  ajter  he  had,  by  the  Spirit, 
risen  from  the  dead  ?  On  the  immersion  theory,  the  facts 
can  not  be  reconciled. 

Whilst  all  these  considerations  point  decisively  to  one 
conclusion,  there  is  not  a  fact  nor  a  circumstance  to  occa- 


136  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

sion  even  a  moment's  embarrassment  in  its  acceptance. 
Assume  the  washings  to  have  been  immersions,  and  confu- 
sion and  perplexity  invest  the  subject.  Recognize  them  in 
their  true  character  as  ablutions  and  not  immersions,  and 
all  is  clear  and  congruous.  The  customs  of  the  people, — 
the  circumstances  in  which  the  rites  were  performed, — the 
words  used  to  describe  them, — the  ritual  relations  in  which 
they  occur, — the  analogies  of  the  whole  system, — the  ex- 
amples of  the  priests,  and  every  casual  incident  and  allu- 
sion,— all  find,  in  this  view,  a  center  around  Avhich  they 
cluster  and  shine,  in  perfect  harmony,  clearness  and  con- 
gruity  of  meaning. 

The  conclusion  is  impregnable.  Immersion,  as  a  rite 
of  cleansing  or  purifying,  was  utterly  unknown  to  Israel. 
And,  particularly,  there  is  nothing  whatever  to  be  found, 
in  all  the  records  of  the  Levitical  system  to  wdiich  the  ad- 
vocates of  immersion  can  point  and  say, — "Here  are  the 
ordinances  of  which  Paul  speaks,  wherein  divers  immer- 
sions were  imposed  on  Israel,  until  the  time  of  reforma- 
tion." It  is  therefore  certain  that  in  the  vocabulary  of  Paul j 
Baptizo  did  not  mean^  to  immerse,  aiid  baptism  is  not  so 
performed. 

Section  XXXIII. — Defilements  and  Purifyings  of  Tilings. 

Things,  as  well  as  persons,  were  liable  to  defilements, 
both  the  major  and  the  minor,  and  the  law  made  corre- 
spondent provision  for  their  cleansing. 

1.  To  the  class  of  minor  defilements  belonged  those  of 
wooden  vessels,  and  bags  of  cloth  or  skin,  which  had  been 
touched  by  the  dead  carcase  of  an  unclean  animal.  "It 
must  be  put  into  w^ater,"  and  be  unclean  until  the  even. 
(Lev.  xi,  32.)  Here,  at  last,  is  an  immersion  ;  the  only 
one  found  in  the  entire  law.  The  case  is  of  great  interest 
as  illustrating  the  ease  and  clearness  with  which  immersion 
is  expressed  when  it  was  intended.  We  search  in  vain  for 
any  corresponding  directions,  in  the   case  of  persons; — 


Skc.  XXXIII.]  PUKIFYINGS  OF  THINGS.  137 

"  They  must  be  put  into  water."  This  rule  moreover  is  of 
great  importance,  as  constituting  a  standard  of  reference  by 
which  to  ascertain  the  divine  estimation  of  the  value  of 
immersion  as  a  ritual  purifying.  Of  certain  animals,  the 
ordinance  was  that  "  whosoever  doth  touch  them,  when 
they  be  dead,  shall  be  unclean  until  the  even.  And  upon 
whatsoever  any  of  them,  when  they  are  dead,  doth  fall,  it 
shall  be  unclean  ;  whether  it  be  any  vessel  of  wood,  or 
raiment,  or  skin,  or  sack,  whatsoever  vessel  it  be  wherein 
any  work  is  done,  it  must  be  put  into  water,  and  it  shall  be 
unclean  until  the  even  ; — so  it  shall  be  cleansed." — lb.  31, 
32.  Thus,  it  appears,  from  both  examples, — of  persons 
and  of  things, — that  the  uncleauness  described  was  of  the 
minor  grade,  which  continued  only  till  the  even.  In  fact, 
it  seems  to  have  been  the  lightest  form  of  this  grade.  For, 
while  the  law  provided  that  he  that  bore  such  carcase  must 
"  wash  his  clothes,"  (vs.  25,  28)  and  be  unclean  until  the 
even, — it  directed,  concerning  the  present  case  of  mere 
casual  and  momentary  contact  by  touching  it,  that  he  shall 
be  "  unclean  until  the  even,"  without  any  prescription  of 
cleansing  rites.  (Compare  also,  v.  29.)  The  meaning  of 
this  may  be  gathered  from  a  comparison  of  1  Cor.  v,  9- 
13.  In  the  Levitical  system,  unclean  beasts  seem  to  rep- 
resent unregenerate  men.  To  God's  people,  a  certain 
amount  of  contact  with  them  is  inevitable;  from  which, 
therefore,  and  its  defiling  influences,  the  only  remedy  is  to 
be  looked  for  in  the  ending  of  this  life,  and  the  entrance 
upon  heaven's  rest.  The  emphasis  of  the  ritual  warnings 
was,  therefore,  directed,  not  against  involuntary  and  casual 
contact  with  the  evil,  but  against  dalliance  with  it,  ex- 
pressed by  carrying  and  eating  the  unclean.  The  immersion 
which  we  have  found  to  be  prescribed,  was  appointed,  not 
for  persons,  but  for  things, — and  for  things  tainted  with 
this  slightest  of  all  the  defilements  known  to  the  law.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  for  major  defile- 
ments of  things, — by  the  dead  and  by  leprosy, — the  same 

12 


138  RITUAL  SELF-WASHINGS.  [Part  IV. 

sacrificial  rites,  and  sprinkling  of  water  were  ordained,  as 
in  the  case  of  persons.  Such  is  the  divine  testimony  as  to 
the  relative  ritual  value  of  immersion  and  sprinkling.  I 
will  not  wrong  the  intelligence  of  the  reader,  by  discussing 
the  possibility  of  this  immersion,  being  what  Paul  meant 
by  the  "  divers  baptisms"  of  the  law. 

Other  minor  defilements  of  things  were,  (1.)  Brazen  ves- 
sels used  for  cooking  the  flesh  of  the  sin  offerings.  They 
were  to  be  "scoured  and  rinsed  in  water."  If  the  vessel 
was  of  earthenware,  it  was  to  be  broken.  (Lev.  vi,  28. 
Compare  1  Cor.  xi,  24.)  (2.)  "The  vessel  of  earth  that  he 
toucheth,  which  hath  an  issue,  shall  be  broken;  and  every 
vessel  of  wood  shall  be  rinsed  in  water  " — IK  xv,  12. 

2.  Things  defiled  by  the  dead,  were  to  be  sprinkled 
with  the  water  of  separation,  on  the  third  day  and  on  the 
seventh.  (Num.  xix,  14,  15,  18.)  In  the  case  of  the  spoil 
of  Midian,  there  was  a  further  purifying. — "Every  thing 
that  may  abide  the  fire,  ye  shall  make  it  go  through  the 
fire  ;  and  it  shall  be  clean  ;  nevertheless  it  shall  be  purified 
with  the  water  of  separation ;  and  all  that  abideth  not  the 
fire  ye  shall  make  go  through  the  water." — Num.  xxxi,  23. 
The  word  "go  through,"  here,  is  the  same  that  is  used 
when  Jesse  is  said  to  have  caused  seven  of  his  sons  to 
"pass  by,"  and  to  "pass  before"  Samuel,  (1  Sam.  xvi, 
9,  10);  when  Jacob  caused  his  household  to  "pass  over" 
the  brook,  (nmrgin.  Gen.  xxxii,  23) ;  and  when  God 
promised  to  make  all  his  goodness  to  "  pass  before"  Moses. 
(Ex.  xxxiii,  19.)  The  alternatives  here  of  fire  and  water 
seem  to  have  reference  to  the  two  great  facts  of  purgation 
in  the  world's  history,  of  which  Peter  speaks.  (2  Pet. 
iii,  5-7.)  The  deluge  was  a  purifying  of  the  earth,  defiled 
by  sin,  and  so  will  the  fire  be,  in  the  final  day. 

3.  A  house  infected  with  leprosy,  when  cured,  was 
treated  in  a  manner  essentially  the  same  as  was  a  person 
so  afflicted.     (Lev.  xiv,  34-53.) 


6kc.  XXXiV.]    OLD  TESTAMENT  ALLUSIONS.  139 


Part  V. 

LATER  TRACES  OP  THE  SPRINKLED  BAPTISMS. 

Section  XXXIV. — Old  Testament  Allusions. 

THE  rite  of  purifying  with  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer 
was  one  of  the  most  famihar  and  impressive  of  the 
Mosaic  institutions.  That  its  observance  was  maintained 
through  the  whole  course  of  Israel's  history,  is  evinced  by 
the  frequent  allusions  of  the  sacred  wTiters.  King  Saul 
found  in  the  ordinances  on  this  subject  an  explanation  of 
David's  absence  from  his  table. — "Something  hath  befallen 
him.  He  is  not  clean :  surely  he  is  not  clean." — 1  Sam. 
XX,  26.  The  words  of  David  himself  have  been  referred 
to  already,  as  he  cries, — "  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I 
shall  be  clean." — Psa.  li,  7.  This  was  written  about  five 
hundred  years  after  the  giving  of  the  law.  Three  centu- 
ries later,  the  Lord  says  to  Israel  by  Hosea, — "Their  sac- 
rifices shall  be  unto  them  as  the  bread  of  mourners,"  (that 
is,  bread  made  or  touched  by  those  that  were  defiled  by 
the  dead),  "  all  that  eat  thereof  shall  be  polluted." — Hosea 
ix,  4.  Isaiah  began  his  prophecy  about  twenty -five  years 
later, — about  B.  C.  760-698.  In  his  time  a  great  revival 
took  place,  under  the  hand  of  King  Hezekiah,  in  connec- 
tion with  which  the  laws  of  purification  came  into  promi- 
nent notice.  It  began  with  the  exhortation  of  Hezekiah, 
to  the  priests  and  Levites. — "Hear  me,  ye  Levites;  sanctify''' 
(or,  cleanse)  "  now  yourselves,  and  sanctify  the  house  of 
the  Lord  God  of  your  fathers ;  and  carry  forth  the  filthi- 
ness  out  of  the  holy  place." — 2  Chron.  xxix,  5.  When 
this  was  done,  the  king  appointed  a  service  of  dedication. 
In  it  "  the  priests  were  too  few,  so  that  they  could  not  flay 


140  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Paut  V. 

all  the  burnt  offerings;  wherefore,  their  brethren  theLevites 
did  help  them,  till  the  work  was  ended,  and  until  the  other 
priests  had  sanctified  themselves :  for  the  Levites  were 
more  upright  in  heart  to  sanctify  themselves  than  the 
priests." — vs.  34.  Immediately  afterward  the  king  kept 
a  great  passover,  gathering  the  remnants  of  the  ten  tribes, 
with  Judah.  "And  the  priests  and  the  Levites  were 
ashamed  and  sanctified  themselves,  ....  for  there  were 
many  in  the  congregation  that  were  not  sanctified  :  therefore 
the  Levites  had  charge  of  the  killing  of  the  passovers  for 
every  one  that  was  not  clean,  to  sanctify  them  unto  the 
Lord.  For  a  multitude  of  the  people,  even  mauy  of 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  Issachar  and  Zebulun,  had  not 
cleansed  themselves,  yet  did  they  eat  the  passover  other- 
wise than  it  was  written.  But  Hezekiah  prayed  for  them, 
saying,  The  good  Lord  pardon  every  one  that  prepare th 
his  heart  to  seek  God,  the  Lord  God  of  his  fathers, 
though  he  be  not  cleansed  accordiug  to  the  purification  of 
the  sanctuary.  And  the  Lord  hearkened  to  Hezekiah,  and 
healed  the  people." — lb.  xxx,  15-20. 

In  Isaiah,  occurs  that  prophecy  of  God's  grace  for  the 
Gentiles,  "Behold  my  servant,  ...  as  many  were  aston- 
ied  at  thee,  his  visage  was  so  marred  more  than  any 
man,  and  his  form  more  than  the  sons  of  men ;  so  shall  he 
sprinkle  many  nations." — Isa.  lii,  13-15.  There  are  two 
words  in  the  original  Hebrew,  meaning,  to  sprinkle.  That 
which  here  occurs  is  used  to  describe  the  purifying  of  the 
leper,  and  of  those  defiled  by  the  dead.  The  priest,  with 
the  scarlet  wool,  cedar  wood  and  hyssop,  "shall  spriMe 
upon  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  from  the  leprosy,  seven 
times." — Lev.  xiv,  7.  "A  clean  person  shall  take  hyssop 
and  dip  it  in  the  water,  and  sprinhle  it  upon  the  tent,  and 
upon  all  the  vessels,  and  upon  the  persons." — Num.  xix, 
18.  The  Jewish  translators  of  the  Septuagiut,  have  ren- 
dered the  passage,  "so  shall  he  astonish  many  nations." 
But   this   only  shows   how    willingly  those  writers   would 


Sbc.  XXXIV.]      OLD  TESTAMENT  ALLUSIONS.  141 

have  obliterated  from  the  text  the  promise  of  salvation  for 
the  Gentiles,  which  it  contaius.  We  know  that  the  Gen- 
tiles were  by  the  law,  held  to  be  unclean — "dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins." — Eph.  ii,  1,  11,  Acts  x,  1-1-16,  28;  xv, 
9.  We  have  seen  baptism  by  sprinkling  to  have  been  ap- 
pointed for  the  purifying  of  every  kind  of  uncleanness, 
and  witnessed  its  use  in  the  reception  of  the  children  of 
Midian.  Moreover,  the  word  here  found  in  the  original 
is  everywhere  else  used  in  the  sense  of  sprinkling.  With 
one  exception,  it  is  invariably  employed  as  descriptive  of 
the  ritual  purifyings.  The  exception  describes  the  sprink- 
ling or  spattering  of  the  blood  of  Jezebel,  when  she  was 
hurled  from  the  height  of  the  palace.  (2  Kings  ix, 
33.)  There  is  no  conceivable  reason  for  making  the  text 
an  exception  to  the  meaning  thus  invariably  indicated. 
Christ,  the  Baptizer,  will  sprinkle  many  nations.  He 
"will  pour  out  of  his  Spirit  on  all  flesh." — Acts  ii,  17; 
Joel  ii,  28.  Of  this  it  is  that  Isaiah  speaks  in  the  place 
in  question. 

The  same  grace  was  promised  to  Israel  by  the  prophet 
Ezekiel  (B.  C.  595-574),  in  language  which  we  have 
already  quoted,  "Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  ujion 
you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean." — Ezek.  xxxvi,  24-27.  In  this 
prophet's  vision  of  the  future  temple,  he  says  of  the  priests: 
"They  shall  come  at  no  dead  person  to  defile  themselves: 
but  for  father,  or  for  mother,  or  for  son,  or  fur  daughter, 
for  brother,  or  for  sister  that  hath  had  no  husband,  they 
may  defile  themselves.  And  after  he  is  cleansed,  they 
sliall  reckon  unto  him  seven  days.  And  in  the  day  that 
he  goeth  into  the  sanctuary,  unto  the  inner  court  to  min- 
ister in  the  sanctuary  he  shall  offer  his  sin-ofierinir,  saith 
the  Lord  God."— Ezek,  xliv,  25-27. 

About  fifty  years  after  the  close  of  Ezekiel's  prophecy 
Haggai  was  sent  to  Judah  (B.  C.  520).  He  inquires  of 
the  priests,  respecting  "  bread,  or  pottage,  or  wine,  or  oil, 
or  any  meat,"  "If  one  that  is  unclean  by  a  dead   body 


142  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

touch  any  of  these  shall  it  be  unclean?  And  the  priests 
answered,  and  said,  It  shall  be  unclean." — Hag.  ii,  13. 

Except  the  brief  testimony  of  Malachi,  Zechariah  was 
the  last  of  the  prophets.  His  ministry  closed,  about  B.  C. 
487.  In  his  prophecy  occurs  that  promise  of  "a  fountain 
opened  to  the  house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness." — Zech.  xiii,  1. 
The  word,  ''fountain,"  in  the  original  means  a  flowing 
spring,  "opened,"  as  was  the  rock  in  the  wilderness;  of 
which  the  Psalmist  says,  "He  opened  the  roek  and  the 
waters  gushed  out;  they  ran  in  the  dry  places  like  a 
river." — Psa.  cv,  41.  The  language  of  Zechariah  seems 
to  be  an  allusion  to  this. 

We  have  thus  traced  the  baptism  of  purifying  with 
the  water  of  separation  through  the  writings  of  the  proph- 
ets for  a  thousand  years,  from  the  time  of  its  institution 
to  within  less  than  five  hundred  years  of  the  coming  of 
Christ.  We  shall  presently  follow  it  down  to  the  time  of 
Christ  and  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

Section  XXXV. — Eabbinic  Traditions  as  to  the  Bed  Heifer. 

Accordiug  to  Jewish  tradition  the  burning  of  the  red 
heifer  took  place  but  nine  times,  from  the  beginning,  until 
the  final  dispersion  of  the  nation.  The  first  was  by  Ele- 
azar,  in  the  w^ilderness.  (Num.  xix,  3.)  This,  they  say, 
was  not  repeated  for  more  than  a  thousand  years,  when 
Ezra  offered  the  second,  upon  the  return  of  the  captivity 
from  Babylon.  From  that  time,  until  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  by  Titus  was  about  five  hundred  years,  during 
which  they  report  seven  heifers  to  have  been  burned — ^two 
by  Simon,  the  just,  two  by  Johanan,  the  father  of  IMatthias, 
one  by  Elioenai,  the  son  of  Hakkoph,  one  by  Hananeel 
Hammizri,  and  one  by  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Fabi.  Since 
then,  it  has  been  impossible  for  them  to  fulfill  the  rite 
according  to  the  law%  as  the  altar  and  temple  arc  no  more. 
The  tenth  they  say  will  be  offered  by  the  Messiah,  at  his 


Sec.  XXXVI.]    FESTIVAL   OF  POURING   WATER.  143 

coming.'^  Liglitfoot  finds  iu  the  increased  frequency  with 
Avhich  the  heifer  ^vas  burned,  during  the  later  period  of 
Jewish  liistory,  a  circumstantial  illustration  of  the  growing 
spirit  of  ritualism,  which  multiplied  the  occasions  of  using 
the  ashes.  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  accej^t  the  account, 
at  least,  as  to  the  earlier  period,  as  authentic  history.  It 
is  probably  mere  conjecture,  suggested  by  the  silence  of  the 
Scri2:)tures,  and  is  most  improbable  in  itself.  But  the  later 
tradition  is  more  reliable;  as,  at  the  time  when  it  Avas  put 
upon  record,  the  Jews  were  undoubtedly  in  possession  of 
abundant  historical  materials,  for  the  period  subsequent  to 
the  return  of  the  captivity  under  Ezra.  According  to  this 
account,  seven  heifers  served  all  the  purposes  of  that  form 
of  purification,  for  five  hundred  years.  In  that  time,  over 
fifteen  generations,  or  not  less  than  fifty  milhons  of  Jews 
were  consigned  to  the  sepulcher,  and  the  consequent 
sprinkling  administered  to  the  families,  attendants,  houses,. 
and  furniture.  If  we  ignore  all  other  applications  of  these 
ashes,  to  those  defiled  by  the  slain  in  battle,  and  to  those 
subject  to  other  causes  of  defilement,  it  is  still  evident 
that  the  sufficiency  and  virtue  of  the  rite  Avere  not  held  to 
depend  upon  the  quantity  of  the  ashes  employed,  and  that 
the  amount  actually  used  was  so  minute  that  it  can  not 
have  been  perceptible  in  the  water.  The  manner  of  ad- 
ministration was  thus  true  to  the  nature  of  the  ordinance, 
as  having  no  intrinsic  virtue,  in  itself,  but  only  in  its  sig- 
nificance as  addressed  to  intelligence  and  faith.  And  it 
prepared  the  minds  of  the  people  to  witness  w^ithout  per- 
plexity, the  change  from  water  in  which  an  inappreciable 
quantity  of  ashes  appealed  to  the  imagination,  to  that  in 
which,  while  no  ashes  were  used,  the  association  of  ideas 
and  meaning  remained  the  same. 

Section  XXXVI.  —  The  FeMival  of  the  Outpouring  of  Water. 

Xot  only  are  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  full  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  under  the  figure 

*  JuchasLn,  fol  16,  in  Liglitfoot. 


144  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V, 

of  liviDg  water  ;  but  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
institutions  observed  by  the  Jews  from  the  days  of  the 
prophets  here  last  quoted,  had  immediate  relation  to 
the  same  thing.  It  was  called  "The  festival  of  the  out- 
pouring of  Avater."  Its  origin  was  by  the  Jews  attributed 
to  the  prophets  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  under  whose  min- 
istry the  temple  was  rebuilt,  and  the  ordinances  restored ; 
a  tradition  Avliich  is  confirmed  by  internal  evidence.  The 
festival  was  incorporated  with  the  feast  of  the  ingathering, 
or  tabernacles.  That  feast  seems  to  have  been  the  pre- 
eminent type  of  the  prosperity,  the  rest  and  gladness  of 
the  kingdom  of  Messiah.  By  the  law,  the  people  were  re- 
quired to  gather  "the  boughs"  (in  the  margin,  "the 
fruit")  "of  goodly  trees,  branches  of  palm  trees,  and  the 
boughs  of  thick  trees,  and  willows  of  the  brook,  and  ye 
shall  rejoice  before  the  Lord  your  God  seven  days." — Lev. 
xxiii,  40.  They  used  the  fruit  of  the  citron  or  lemon,  with 
branches  of  the  palm  and  the  myrtle,  and  willows  from  the 
brook  Kedron.  These  tied  together  in  one  bunch  were 
called,  the  liilah.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day 
of  the  feast,  the  }>eople,  clothed  in  holiday  garb,  assembled 
at  the  temple,  each  having  a  lulab  in  one  hand  and  a  cit- 
ron in  the  other,  and  each  carrying  a  branch  of  willow, 
with  which  they  adorned  the  altar  round  about.  As  soon 
as  the  morning  sacrifice  was  placed  on  the  altar,  a  priest 
descended  to  the  fountain  of  Siloam,  which  flowed  from 
the  foot  of  the  temple  mount,  bearing  a  golden  vase  or 
pitcher,  which  he  filled  with  water.  As  he  entered  the 
court,  through  that  gate  which  was  hence  called  "  the 
water  gate,"  the  trumpets  sounded.  He  ascended  to  the 
great  altar  of  burnt  offering,  where  were  placed  two  silver 
bowls,  one  on  the  east  side  of  the  altar  and  the  other  on 
the  west,  one  of  which  contained  wine.  Into  the  other,  he 
poured  the  water  from  the  golden  vessel,  and  then  ming- 
ling the  water  and  wine,  slowly  poured  it  on  the  ground, 
as  it  would  seem,  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  as  the  bowls 


Sec.  XXX VI.]    FESTIVAL   OF  POURING    WATER.  145 

were  placed.  (Compare  Zecli.  xiv,  8.)  In  the  mean 
time  the  temple  choir  sang  the  Hallel  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  instruments  of  music*  Then,  the  people  who 
thronged  the  court  marched  in  procession  about  the  altar, 
waving  their  lulabs,  and  setting  them  bending  toward  it, 
the  trumpets  sounding  and  the  people  shouting,  "Halle- 
lujah!" and  "Plosanna!"  with  ejaculations  of  prayer, 
thanksgiving  and  praise,  selected  from  the  Psalms.  In 
this  service,  even  the  little  children,  as  soon  as  able  to 
wave  a  palm  branch,  were  encouraged  to  join.  After  this 
they  went  home  to  dine,  and  spent  the  afternoon  reading 
the  law  or  hearing  the  expositions  of  learned  scribes.  In 
the  evening  commenced  the  festive  joy  of  the  outpouring 
of  the  ^vater.  The  water  was  drawn  and  poured  out,  at 
the  time  of  the  morning  sacrifice  and  in  connection  with 
it, — a  solemnity  in  the  presence  of  which  any  hilarious 
demonstrations  were  inopportune.  The  festivity  was  there- 
fore reserved  until  the  evening.  The  multitude  then  as- 
sembled in  the  court  of  the  women,  that  being  the  largest 
court,  and  the  nearest  approach  that  the  women  as  a  body 
could  make  to  the  holy  house.  On  this  occasion  they  occu- 
l)ied  the  galleries  which  surrounded  the  court,  whilst  the 
men  thronged  the  open  space.  At  suitable  places,  in  the 
court  there  were  great  candelabra  of  such  size  and  height 
that  they  overlooked  the  whole  temple  mount.  A  ladder 
stood  by  each,  by  means  of  which  young  priests  from  time 
to  time  ascended  and  replenished  the  oil,  of  which  each 
bowl  is  reported  by  the  Talmud  to  have  held  seven  or 
eight  gallons.  Many  of  the  people  also  carried  torches,  so 
that  the  wdiole  mount  Avas  flooded  with  light.  The  festiv- 
ity was  begun  by  the  temple  choir  of  priests,  who,  stand- 
ing in  order  upon  the  fifteen  steps  that  led  down  from  the 
court  of  Israel  to  that  of  the  women,  chanted  some  of  the 


*Ps.  rxiii-cxviii,  were  known  among  tlio  Jews  as,  the  Hallel, 
that  is.  Praise,  ])eing  snnf;  at  the  temple  on  the  first  of  each 
month,  and  at  the  annual  feasts. 

13 


l46         *  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

''songs  of  degrees,"  to  the  accompaniment  of  instruments ; 
whilst  such  of  the  people  as  were  skilled  in  music  joined 
their  voices  and  instruments.  Then,  the  chief  men  of  the 
nation,  rulers  of  synagogues,  members  of  the  sanhedrim, 
scribes,  doctors  of  the  law,  and  all  such  as  were  of  eminent 
rank  or  repute  for  gifts  or  piety  laid  off  their  outer  robes, 
and  joined  in  a  joyous  leaping  and  dancing,  in  the  presence 
of  the  multitude,  singing  and  shouting  Hosannas  and  Hal- 
lelujahs, and  ejaculating  the  praises  of  God.  Thus  a  great 
part  of  the  night  was  expended,  each  one  emulating  the 
others  in  imitation  of  the  humility  of  David,  at  the  bring- 
ing up  of  the  ark  (2  Sam.  vi,  15,  16)  ;  for,  the  excitement 
now  indulged  in,  the  leaping  and  dancing,  were,  at  other 
times,  accounted  unbecoming  the  dignity  of  the  nobles  of 
Israel.  Al>  length,  two  of  the  priests,  standing  in  the  gate 
of  Nicanor,  which  was  at  the  head  of  the  stairway,  sounded 
their  trumpets,  and  descending  the  steps  continued  to  sound 
as  they  traversed  the  court,  until  they  came  to  the  eastern 
gate.  Here  they  turned  around  toward  the  west,  so  as  to 
face  the  temple.  They  then  cried, — "  Our  fathers  who 
were  in  this  place,  turned  their  backs  to  the  temple  of  the 
Lord,  and  their  faces  toward  the  east.*  But  as  for  us, 
we  turn  to  Him,  and  our  eyes  look  unto  Him."  The 
assembly  then  dispersed.  With  slight  variations,  the  same 
order  was  observed  each  of  the  seven  days  of  the  feast. f 

The  joy  of  the  people  at  the  ingathering  of  the  harvest 
and  the  prosperous  end  of  the  labors  of  the  year, — the  gay 
and  festive  appearance  of  the  city,  every  housetop  and 
open  space,  and  even  the  sides  and  top  of  the  mount  of 
Olives,  covered  with  the  green  booths, — the  extraordinary 
services  at  the  temple,  where  more  sacrifices  were  offered 
during  the  week  than  in  all  the  other  feasts  of  the  year 
together, — the  green  willows  adorning  the  altar  and  daily 

*See  Ezek.  viii,  16. 

tLightfoot  on  this  Feast  and  that  of  Tabernacles.     Lewis's 
"Origines  IlebraeDe."     Poors  ''Synopsis,"  etc. 


Sec.  XXXVL]    FESTIVAL  OF  POURING   WATER.  147 

renewed — the  processions  around  it,  the  branches  carried 
by  the  people, — the  trumpets,  songs,  and  Hosannas, — and, 
at  night,  the  flaming  lights,  the  jubliant  concourse,  the 
waving  of  the  lulabs,  the  music  and  dancing,  the  shout- 
ings, songs,  and  trumpets,  must  have  presented  a  scene  of 
exhilaration  and  gladness  hard  to  conceive.  It  was  a  say- 
ing of  the  rabbins,  that  "  He  that  has  not  witnessed  the 
festivity  of  the  pouring  out  of  the  water,  has  never  seen 
festivity  at  all." 

The  rabbins  are  obscure  in   their  explanations  of  the 
observance  here  described.     Some  would  represent  it  as  a 
thanksgiving  for  the  rains  by  which  the  soil  had  been  fer- 
tilized and  the  harvests  matured.     But  with  a  better  ap- 
preciation. Rabbi  Levi  is  reported  in  the  Talmud,  ''Why 
is  it  called  the  drawing  of  water?     Says  Rabbi  Levi,  Be- 
cause of  the  receiving  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  according  to  that 
which  is  written, — With  joy  will  we  draw  water  from  the 
wells  of  salvation." — Isa.  xii,  3.     That  the  outpouring  had 
reference,  not  to  the  receiving  of  the  Spirit  by  Israel,  but 
to  its  outpouring  upon  the    Gentiles,   in   the  days  of  the 
Messiah,  is  confirmed  by  the   tenor  of  the  prophecies  of 
Haggai  and  Zechariah,  the  authors  of  the  observance,  and 
by  language  of  our  Savior,  which  expositors  agree  in  re-' 
ferring  to  this  rite.     Both  of  those   prophets  encouraged 
Judah    in   rebuilding    the   temple   by  the  assurance    that 
"  the  Desire  of  all  nations  should  come"  to  it. — Hag.  ii,  7. 
Said  the  Lord,  by  Zechariah,  "  Rejoice  greatly,  O  daugh- 
ter of  Zion ;  Shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem ;  behold  thy 
King  cometh  unto  thee :  he  is  just  and  having  salvation : 
lowly  and  riding  upon  an  ass  and  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of 
an  ass.   ...   It  shall  come  to  pass,  in  that  day,  that  I  will 
seek  to  destroy  all  the  nations  that  come  against  Jerusa- 
lem.    And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David  and  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  of 
supplications,   and   they  shall   look   upon   me  whom   they 
have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him.   ...   In  that 


148  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

day  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the  house  of  David 
and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for  sin  and  for  un- 
cleanness.  .  .  .  And  it  shall  be  in  that  day,  that  living 
waters  shall  go  out  from  Jerusalem :  half  of  them  toward 
the  former  sea,  and  half  of  them  toward  the  hinder  sea. 
In  summer  and  winter  shall  it  be.  And  the  Lord  shall  be 
king  over  all  the  earth ;  In  that  day  there  shall  be  one 
Lord,  and  his  name  one.  .  .  .  And  it  shall  come  to  pass 
that  every  one  that  is  left  of  all  the  nations  which  came 
against  Jerusalem,  shall  even  go  up,  from  year  to  year,  to 
worship  the  King,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  to  keep  the  feast 
of  tabernacles." — Zech.  ix,  9;  xii,  9,  10;  xiii,  1;  xiv, 
8,  9,  16. 

To  all  this,  reference  is  evidently  had  in  the  incident 
related  by  the  evangelist,  John,  as  occurring  at  this  feast. — 
*'  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood 
and  cried,  saying.  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto 
me  and  drink.  He  that  believeth  in  me,  as  the  Scripture 
hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water. 
But  this  spake  he  of  the  Spirit,  which  they  that  believe 
on  him  should  receive;  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet 
given,  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified." — John  vii, 
S7-39.  These  words  of  Jesus,  as  will  hereafter  appear, 
had  distinct  reference  to  the  giving  of  the  gospel  to  the 
Gentiles.  A  few  additional  facts  will  shed  a  clearer  light 
uj)on  the  meaning  of  the  festival. 

The  feast  of  tabernacles,  strictly  so  called,  was  of 
seven  days'  continuance ;  during  which  the  people  dwelt  in 
booths.  On  the  eighth  day,  they  removed  the  booths  and 
re-entered  their  houses.  They  observed  that  day  as  a  dis- 
tinct and  peculiar  festival.  *'  On  the  eighth  day  shall  be  a 
holy  convocation  unto  you  ;  and  ye  shall  offer  an  oifering 
made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord ;  it  is  a  solemn  assembly." 
(Lev.  xxiii,  36  ;  Deut.  xvi,  13-15.)  During  the  seven  days 
the  oflferings  upon  the  altar  had  a  very  remarkable  order. 
On  the  first  day,  they  were  "  thirteen  young  bullocks,  two 


Sec.  XXXVI.]    FESTIVAL  OF  POURING  WATER.  149 

rams,  and  fourteen  lambs  of  the  first  year,"  and  one  kid 
of  the  goats  for  a  sin  offering.  These  'were  in  addition  to 
the  ordinary  daily  offerings.  On  each  successive  day,  the 
number  of  the  bullocks  was  reduced  by  one,  "whilst  the 
other  offerings  remained  the  same.  But  on  the  eighth  day 
the  offering  "was  one  bullock,  one  ram,  and  seven  lambs, 
and  one  goat  for  a  sin  offering.  (Xum.  xxix,  12-38.)  On 
this  peculiar  order  of  sacrifices,  the  explanations  of  the 
scribes  are  various.  In  the  Talmud,  Rabbi  Solomon  states 
the  bullocks,  "whose  aggregate  number  for  the  seven  days 
"was  seventy,  to  have  represented  the  seventy  idolatrous 
nations;  that  being,  afs  the  Jews  supposed,  their  number. 
These  must  be  continually  diminished,  while  Israel,  repre- 
sented by  the  other  offerings,  remains.*  Says  Pool, — 
"The  eighth  day  was  the  great  day,  not  by  divine  ap- 
pointment, but  from  the  opinion  of  the  Jews,  who  regai'ded 
the  sacrifices  and  prayers  of  the  other  days  as  made,  not 
so  much  for  themselves  as  for  the  other  nations;  but  the 
eighth,  as  being  solely  for  themselves."  f  Hence  the  Tar- 
gum, — "  T/ie  eiqliih  day  shall  he  holy.  Thou  seest,  O  God, 
that  Israel  in  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  offers  before  thee 
seventy  bullocks,  for  the  seventy  nations,  for  which  they 
ought  to  love  us.  But  for  our  love,  they  are  our  adversa- 
ries. The  holy  blessed  God  therefore  saith  to  Israel,  Offer 
for.  yourselves  on  the  eighth  day."  J 

The  gospels  render  us  familiar  with  the  religion  of  the 
scribes.  By  the  help  of  tradition  it  sought  to  divest  the 
law  of  God  of  its  claim  upon  the  allegiance  of  the  heart, 
to  obscure  and  set  aside  the  spiritual  meaning  of  its  rites, 
and  to  substitute  a  system  of  minute  outward  observances, 
and  a  fanatical  pride  in  the  blood  of  Abraham,  which 
looked  scornfully  down  on  all  other  nations  as  unclean 
and  accursed.     This  svstem  was  embodied  in  the  Talmud, 


*llabhi  Solomon  on  Num.  xxix,  in  Lightfoot  on  this  feast, 
t  Pool's  Synopsis,  on  John  vii,  37.     He  refers  to  Grotius. 
t  Lewis's  Orlgines  Hebraea.*,  p.  GOG. 


150  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

and  culminated  in  the  compilation  of  that  work,  several 
centuries  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple  and  the  down- 
fall of  the  nation.  When,  therefore,  among  the  idle  tra- 
ditions which  fill  the  pages  of  that  work,  we  come  upon 
occasional  traces  of  a  profounder  spiritual  exegesis,  and 
sentiments  respecting  the  Gentiles  more  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  we  may  confi- 
dently recognize  them  as  precious  vestiges  of  truth,  which 
have  escaped  obliteration,  as  they  were  transmitted  through 
that  uncongenial  channel,  from  a  distant  and  purer  an- 
tiquity. 

Such  is  the  conviction  which  will  result  from  a  careful 
comparison  of  the  traditions  above  cited  with  the  accounts 
of  the  rites  in  question^the  language  of  the  prophets,  and 
the  words  of  Jesus  to  which  reference  has  just  been  made. 
By  the  light  thus  concentrated,  we  see,  in  the  ingathering 
of  the  harvest  of  the  holy  land  and  the  festivities  following, 
a  type  and  prophecy  of  the  ingathering  of  the  nations  into 
the  fold  of  Israel,  under  the  scepter  of  Messiah,  and  the 
songs  and  joy  that  hail  their  coming.  Then  the  solemnity 
of  the  eighth  day  may  have  anticipated  the  time  when, 
opposition  withdrawn,  all  nations  ''shall  go  up  from  year 
to  year-  to  worship  the  King  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  to 
keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles,"  when  ''the  Lord  shall  be 
King  over  all  the  earth,  and  there  shall  be  one  Lord,  and 
his  name  One."  In  this  hght,  Israel  appears  in  her  lofty 
character  and  office  as  the  priest-kingdom,  standing  as  me- 
diator for  the  nations,  and  making  for  them  offerings  of 
atonement  and  intercessions.  Nor  less  significant  was  the 
drawing  of  the  water  from 

"  Siloah's  brook  that  flowed 
Fast  by  the  oracle  of  God," 

and  its  outpouring  by  the  priest  upon  the  earth,  mingled 
with  wine.  From  that  same  fountain,  during  the  same 
period  of  Israel's  history,  it  was  the  rule  to  draw  all  water 
that  was  used  at  Jerusalem  for  purification  wdth  the  water 


Skc.  XXXVIL]      the  HELLENISTIC  GREEK.  151 

of  separation,  especially  for  those  who  came  to  the  annual 
feasts.  To  this,  Zechariah  alludes  in  his  prophecy  of 
that  day  when  "  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to  the 
house  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  for 
sin  and  for  uncleanness." — Zech.  xiii,  1.  By  her  great 
High  Priest,  was  to  be  dispensed  to  Israel  and  through  her 
to  all  the  earth,  the  Spirit's  grace,  conveying  to  the  nations 
of  the  Gentiles  the  virtue  of  the  blood  of  Calvary.  Jeru- 
salem and  the  temple  were  to  be  the  source  of  those  heal- 
ing waters  which  were  to  flow  to  the  east  and  to  the  west, 
"toward  the  former  sea,  and  tow^ard  the  hinder  sea,"  to 
gladden  the  world.     (Zech.  xiv,  8.) 

Section  XXXVII.— T/ie  milenistic  Greek. 

After  the  close  of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander  of  Macedon,  the  consequent  diffusion 
of  the  Greeks,  and  the  favor  which  that  prince  and 
his  successors  showed  to  the  Jews,  introduced  an  intimate 
intercourse  between  them  and  the  Greeks.  By  him  Alex- 
andria in  Egypt  was  founded,  designated  by  his  own  name, 
and  intended  to  be  the  western  capital  of  his  empire.  In 
this  new  Greek  capital,  its  founder  assigned  the  Jews  an 
extensive  section,  and  equal  privileges  w^ith  the  Macedo- 
nians. After  the  death  of  Alexander,  and  the  subdivision 
-of  his  empire,  the  Ptolemies,  the  Greek  kings  of  Egypt, 
continued  to  favor  the  Jews,  treating  them  on  terms  of 
equality  with  the  Greeks.  During  the  same  period,  the 
persecutions  suffered  by  the  Jews  of  Palestine  from  the 
kings  of  Syria,  drove  multitudes  into  exile,  many  of  whom 
were  attracted  to  Egypt,  so  that  the  Jewish  population  of 
Alexandria  was  at  one  time  estimated  at  nearly  a  million 
of  souls,  occupying  two  of  the  five  districts  of  the  city; 
and  at  least,  for  a  time,  governed  by  their  own  ethnarch, 
or  superior  magistrate.  Among  these  Jews,  and  those 
elsewhere  scattered  in  the  Greek  colonies,  their  own  lan- 
guage was  gradually  superseded  by  the  Greek,  into  which, 


152  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Paut  V. 

at  leDgth,  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  translated, 
in  a  version  known  as  the  Septuagint.  Of  the  precise 
time  and  circumstances  in  which  this  version  was  made, 
there  is  no  reliable  information,  except  that  it  was  done 
in  Alexandria,  within  the  first  quarter  of  the  third  century 
before  Christ.  In  the  time  of  Christ,  the  Greek  had  be- 
come the  language  of  literature  and  of  commerce  for  the 
civilized  world.  Among  the  Jews  disjDersed  everywhere,  it 
was  prevalent,  and  was  extensively  used  even  in  Palestine 
itself,  and  thus  became  the  divinely  prepared  channel  for 
communicating  the  gospel  to  all  nations. 

But  the  language  thus  employed — the  Greek  of  the 
Septuagint,  the  Apocrypha  and  the  New  Testament — was 
not  what  is  known  as  classic  Greek.  The  Jews  did  not 
learn  it  in  the  schools  of  Greece,  nor  from  a  study  of  her 
poets,  orators,  and  philosophers.  It  was  the  product  of 
social  and  business  contact  and  intercourse  of  the  one  peo- 
ple with  the  other,  in  a  land  foreign  to  both. 

Already  the  purity  of  the  Attic  had  been  lost,  by  the 
commingling  of  the  Macedonians  with  the  various  tribes 
of  Greece  proper  and  her  dependencies,  in  the  armies  from 
which  Alexander's  colonists  were  taken ;  and  still  further 
by  the  mixed  multitude  which  flocked  to  their  new  settle- 
ments. In  the  process  of  adaptation  to  the  expression  of 
Jewish  thought,  it  was  inevitably  subjected  to  further  mod- 
ifications, in  definition,  in  syntax,  in  order  and  construc- 
tion— in  the  very  tone  and  spirit  W'hich  pervade  the  whole. 
By  these  modifications,  the  language,  which  had  grown  up 
as  the  native  and  coeval  expression  of  the  idolatrous  relig- 
ion, the  arts  and  philosophy  of  pagan  Greece,  was  adapted 
to  become  a  repository  for  the  system  of  divine  and  saving 
truth,  contained  in  the  Scriptures.  Those  Jews  who  re- 
sided in  Alexandria  and  other  Greek  cities,  who  spake 
this  Greek  language,  and  were  more  or  less  conformed  to 
the  manners  of  the  Gentiles  among  whom  they  lived,  were 
known  among  their  brethren,  as  Hellenists,  that  is,  Greek 


Sec.  XXXVII.]       THE  HELLENISTIC  GREEK.  153 

Jews,  aud  hence,  the  Greek  dialect  used  by  them  has  ac- 
quired the  designation  of  Hellenistic  Greek. 

The  authors  of  the  New  Testament  adopted  this  as  the 
language  of  their  writings,  and,  in  their  references  to  the 
Old  Testament,  their  quotations  are  mostly  made,  not  from 
the  Hebrew,  but  from  the  Septuagint,  or  Hellenistic  ver- 
sion. It  was  ordinarily  used  by  the  Lord  Jesus  himself  in 
his  discourses.  It  thus  a})pears  as  the  source  aud  standard 
of  the  language  of  the  Nev/  Testament. 

Together  with  these  Greek  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, there  have  been  transmitted  to  us  several  other 
Jewish  documents  of  the  same  period,  written  in  the  same 
Hellenistic  Greek.  They  are  invaluable  for  the  light  which 
they  shed  upon  the  history,  customs,  and  modes  of  thought 
and  language  of  the  Jews  of  that  time ;  although  the  at- 
tempt of  the  church  of  Rome,  to  exalt  some  of  them  to  an 
equal  authority  with  the  Scriptures,  has  tended  to  fix  a 
stigma  on  them,  as  known  to  us  under  the  name  of  Apoc- 
rypha. Incautious  recourse  to  the  rules  and  definitions 
of  classic  Greek  is  liable  to  deceive  and  mislead  us  in  the 
critical  study  of  the  New  Testament.  But  conclusions  in- 
telligently deduced  from  the  language  of  the  Septuagint 
and  of  the  other  Jewish  writers  of  that  age,  are  to  be  re- 
spected as  of  the  highest  authority  on  all  questions  of  the  New 
Testament  language.  On  the  subject  of  our  present  in- 
vestigation, these  authorities  shed  a  flood  of  light.  In 
them,  we  first  find  the  verb,  baptizo,  used  to  designate 
rites  of  religious  purifying.  Once  in  the  Septuagint,  and 
twice  in  the  Apocrypha,  it  is  applied  to  Hebrew  rites  of 
this  nature. 

That  the  use  of  the  word  to  designate  rehgious  observ- 
ances is  peculiar  to  the  Hellenistic,  as  contradistinguished 
from  classic  Greek,  is  indisputable;  and  it  is  worthy  of 
consideration,  how  it  came  to  be  selected  from  the  Greek 
vocabulary  for  this  purpose.  The  Hebrews  of  Egypt,  in 
their  exile  from  the  land  of  their  fathers,  had  not  aban- 


154  LATER  TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

doned  but  rather  augmented  their  zeal  for  the  institutions 
of  Moses.  A  circumstance  in  their  own  history,  wliich  at 
first  might  have  seemed  to  threaten  a  dissokition  of  the 
ties  that  bound  them  to  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  operated 
in  fact  to  renovate  and  strengthen  them.  This  was,  the 
erection  by  some  of  their  number,  of  a  temple  at  Onias  in 
Egypt,  in  imitation  of  that  at  Jerusalem.  Here,  the  Levit- 
ical  rites  were  punctually  observed  under  priests  of  the 
Aaronic  line  and  Levites  of  the  sacred  tribe.  For  this 
they  claimed  warrant  from  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,  xix, 
19. — "In  that  day,  shall  there  be  an  altar  to  the  Lord  in 
the  midst  of  the  land  of  Egypt."  The  adherents  of  this 
movement  do  not  seem  to  have  been  numerous,  and  its 
effect  was  rather  to  increase  the  devotion  of  the  people  to 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  ordinances  there  main- 
tained. Among  them,  was  developed  the  same  disposition 
which  was  prevalent  in  Judea  to  give  undue  importance  to 
multiplied  rites  of  purifving;  and  hence  an  increased  and 
constant  necessity  of  finding,  in  the  Greek  language  which 
they  were  now  adopting,  some  word  suitable  to  designate 
these  rites.  In  that  language  was  the  verb,  ha'pio,  meaning 
(1)  to  dip ;  (2)  to  wet  by  clipping ;  (3)  to  wet,  irrespect- 
ive of  the  manner ;  (4)  to  dye  b}^  dipping,  and  thence,  to 
dye,  without  respect  to  mode — even  by  sprinkling.  But, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  rites  in  question  were  not  dippings, 
nor  were  they  dyeings,  and  the  word  was  never  used  by 
the  Jews  to  designate  them.  From  this  root,  the  Greeks 
derived  the  verb  baptizo.  (1.)  Its  primaiy  meaning,  as 
used  by  them,  was, — to  bring  into  the  state  of  mersion. 
This. meaning  had  no  respect  to  the  mode  of  action,  whether 
by  putting  the  subject  under  the  fluid,  pouring  it  over  him, 
or  in  whatever  manner.  In  other  words,  it  expressed  not 
i?Mmersion,  but  mersion, — not  the  mode  of  inducing  the 
state,  but  the  state  induced, — that  of  being  embosomed  in 
the  mersing  element.  From  this  primary  signification,  was 
derived  a  secondary  use  of  the  word.     As  any  thing  that 


Sec.  XXXYIL]       THE  HELLEX-ISTIC  GREEK.  155 

is  mersed  is  in   the  possession  and  control   of  the  mers- 
ing  eioment,   the   word   was   hence  used    to   express   the 
estabhshiiig  of  a  complete  possession  and  coutrolUng  influ- 
euce.     As  we  say  that  a  man  is  drowned, — immersed, — 
oMcrwhelmed,  in  business,  iu  trouble,  in  drunkenness,  or  in 
sleep ;  having,  in  these  expressions,  no  reference  whatever 
to  the  mode  in  which  the  described  condition  was  brought 
about ;  so  the  Greeks  used  the  verb  baptizo.     They  spoke 
of  men  as  baptized  with  grief,  with  passion,  with  business 
cares.     An  intoxicated  person  was  "  baptized  With  wine," 
etc.     In  such  use  of  the  word,  the  essential  idea  is  that  of 
the  action  of  a  pervasive  potency  by  Avhich  the  subject  is 
brought  and  held  in  a  new  state  or  condition.     On  this  sub- 
ject, no  authority  could  be  better  or  more  conclusive  than 
that  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  T.  J.  Conant,  a  scholar  of  unquestioned 
eminence  and  whose  researches  on  this  subject  were  under- 
taken at  the  request  of  the  American  (Baptist)  Bible  Union. 
The  result  of  his  investigations  he  thus  states.    "  The  word, 
baptizelii,  during  the  whole  existence  of  the   Greek  as  a 
spoken  language,  had  a  perfectly  defined  and   unvarying 
import.     In  its  literal  use*  it  meant,  as  has  been  shown, — 
to  put  entirely  into  or  under  a  liquid,  or  other  penetrable 
substance,  generally  w^ater,  so  that  the  object  was  wholly 
covered  by  the  enclosing  element.    By  analogy  it  expressed 
the  coming  into  a  new  state  of  life  or  experience,  in  which  one 
was,  as  it  were,  inclosed  and  swallowed  up,  so  that  tem- 
porarily or  permanently,  he  belonged  wholly  io  it."  *     Dr. 
Dale  has  been  at  the  trouble  to  list  and  enumerate  no  less 
than  forty  different  words  which  Dr.  Conant  employs  in  his 
translations  of  this  word  of  "  perfectly  defined  and  unvary- 
ing import."     It  is,  however,  enough  for  our  present  pur- 
pose,  that   this  distinguished   scholar   here   expressly  ad- 

*"The  Meaning  and  Use  of  Baptizein,  Philologically  and 
Historically  investigated  for  the  American  Bible  Union.  By 
T.  J.  Conant,  D.  D.,"  p.  158.     The  itahcs  arc  by  Dr.  C. 


156  LATER  TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

mits  with  Italic  emphasis,  that  "by  analogy,"  the  word 
"expressed  the  comiug  into  a  new  state  of  life  or  expe- 
rience^ in  which  one  was,  as  it  were,  inclosed  and  swallowed 
up,  so  that  temporarily  or  permanently  he  belonged  wholly 
to  it." 

Now,  here  was  the  very  word  required  to  designate  the 
Mosaic  rites  of  purifying.  Of  dippings  and  immersions, 
Israel  had  none ;  and,  if  these  had  been  found  in  their 
ritual,  the  verbs,  ha-pto^  to  dip,  and  kataduo,  to  plunge  into,  to 
immerse,  aad  the  nouns,  haplie  and  katadusis, — a  dipping,  an 
immersion,  were  at  hand  and  specific  in  meaning.  But  they 
did  want  Avords  to  express  that  potency  by  which  the  un- 
clean were,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Conant,  introduced  into 
"a  new  state  of  life," — a  state  of  ritual  cleanness,  typical 
of  the  spiritual  newness  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  which  God's 
people  receive,  by  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit.  To  express 
the  working  of  that  change,  they  appropriated  the  word 
haptizo,  to  baptize;  that  is,  to  cleanse,  to  purify.  Then,  to 
give  name  to  the  rites  by  which  that  change  was  accom- 
plished, they  formed  from  it  the  two  sacred  words,  bap- 
tisma  and  baptismos,  words  Avholly  unknown  to  classic 
Greek  literature.  They  are,  as  to  etymology  and  meaning 
identical.  By  grammarians,  the  termination,  mos,  is  said 
generally  to  indicate  the  act  signified  by  the  verb,  while 
ma  indicates  its  effect.  But  the  rule  is  neither  absolute 
nor  universal;  and  the  sacred  writers  do  not  maintain  the 
distinction.  By  them  baptisma  is  used  alike  to  signify  the 
act  of  baptizing,  and  the  effect,  the  new  state  produced  by 
it.  In  their  writings,  the  distinction  seems  to  consist  in 
the  employment  of  baptismos  generically,  as  designating 
divers  kinds  of  purifying  rites ;  while  baptisma  is  specifically 
applied  to  the  baptism  of  John  and  of  Christ.  It  is  found 
in  no  other  writings  of  that  or  preceding  ages.  Outside 
the  Scriptures,  baptismos  occurs  once,  in  the  works  of 
Josephus,  who  thus  designates  John's  baptism.* 

*■  "  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,"  XVIII,  \i,  2. 


Bec.  XXXVIII.]  BAPTISM  OF  NAAMAN.  157 

Section  XXXVIII.  —  The  Baptism  of  Naaman, 

lu  the  Septuagiut  or  Greek  Scriptures,  baptlzo  first  ap- 
pears in  the  account  of  the  healing  of  Naaman.  "  Elisha 
sent  a  messenger  unto  him  saying,  Go  and  wash  in  Jordan 
seven  times,  and  thy  flesh  shall  come  again  to  thee,  and 
thoushalt  be  clean.  .  .  .  Then  went  he  down,  and  dipped 
himself  seven  times  in  Jordan  according  to  the  saying  of 
the  man  of  God." — 2  Kings  v,  10,  14.  It  is  asserted  that 
here  is  clearly  an  immersion. — "■  He  went  down  and  clipped 
himself  seven  times."  Kespectiug  the  question  thus  raised, 
it  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  be  distinctly  noticed,  that  the 
decision,  whatever  it  be,  can  not  in  any  way  neutralize  or 
diminish  the  force  of  the  argument  already  developed  from 
the  divers  baptisms  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Were 
we  to  allow  that  Naaman  was  immersed,  that  fact  would 
constitute  no  reply  to  the  demonstration  that  no  immersions 
were  * '  imposed  on  Israel,"  although  divers  baptisms  were 
imposed.  But,  that  there  was  no  immersion  in  this  case, 
will  appear  in  what  follows. 

1.  The  Avord  upon  which  the  immersion  argument  here 
rests,  is  the  Hebrew  tdbal,  which  is  translated,  "he  dipped." 
As  to  its  meaning  in  this  place,  there  are  several  available 
sources  of  information.  First,  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
word  is  employed  elsewhere  in  the  Scriptures.  It  occurs, 
in  all,  but  fifteen  times.  It  is  evident,  that  while  these 
places  are  sufficient  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  word  was 
used  as  they  illustrate,  they  are  wholly  insufl^icient  to  con- 
stitute a  basis  for  the  assumption  that  it  was  never 
used  in  a  sense  not  there  found,  or  in  a  sense  not  there 
doubly  illustrated.  For  example,  Gesenius  gives,  "  to 
immerse,"  as  one  of  the  meanings,  and  appeals  to  the 
text  of  Naaman  as  the  only  example.  Without  pre- 
tending to  emulate  the  learning  of  that  great  scholar,  I 
venture  to  assert  that,  although  the  definition  be  not  illus- 
trated by  other  examples,  there  is  abundant  and   various 


158  LATER  TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

evidence  that  the  word  is  here  used  as  the  equivalent  of 
rdhatz,to  ivash,  according  to  the  proper  sense  of  that  word 
as  already  ascertained.  The  primary  and  essential  idea  of 
tabal  appears  to  be  contact  by  touch,  a  contact  which  may 
be  of  the  slightest  and  most  superficial  kind,  as  when  the 
priest  was  directed  to  dip  the  finger  of  his  right  hand  in  a 
few  drops  of  oil  held  in  the  palm  of  his  left  hand  (Lev. 
xiv,  15,  16),  and  when  those  who  bore  the  ark  dipped  the 
soles  of  their  feet  in  the  brim  or  edge  of  Jordan  and  the 
w^aters  instantly  fled  away.  (Josh,  iii,  13,  15.)  Again,  it 
is  used  to  describe  the  staining  or  smearing  of  Joseph's  coat 
with  the  blood  of  the  kid.  (Gen.  xxxvii,  31.)  In  this 
case,  there  can  have  been  no  immersion,  since  the  blood  of 
a  kid  would  have  been  wholly  insufficient,  and  the  uniform 
stain  thus  induced  would  have  detected  the  fraud  of  Jo- 
seph's brothers,  as  the  violence  of  a  wild  beast  would  not 
have  produced  such  a  result.  How  the  word,  in  this  place 
was  understood  by  the  rabbins  of  Alexandria,  is  shown  by 
the  Greek  of  the  Septuagint,  in  which  it  is  represented  by 
moluno,  to  soil,  to  stain,  to  smear.  *'  They  stained  or 
smeared  his  coat  with  the  blood."  The  same  is  no  doubt 
the  meaning  of  Job,  Avhen  he  says  to  God,  "  Yet  shalt 
thou  plunge  iiie  in  the  ditch  and  mine  own  clothes  shall 
abhor  me." — Job  ix,  31.  Not  the  mode  of  action,  but  the 
soiling  contact,  was  the  thought  present  to  Job's  mind. 
The  usage  of  the  word  in  the  Scriptures  does  not  justify 
the  belief  that  it  is  ever  employed  in  the  energy  of  mean- 
ing expressed  by  ^^ plunge."  "Yet  shalt  thou  soil  me  in 
the  ditch." 

Another  source  of  information  is  the  direction  given  to 
Naaman  by  Elisha.  He  dipped  hitoself  seven  times  "  ac- 
cording to  the  saying,  of  the  man  of  God."  What  was  that 
saying?  Did  Elisha  direct  him  to  be  immersed  seven 
times?  EKsha  sent  to  him,  saying  "Go,  icasli  in  Jordan 
seven  times."  The  verb,  rdhatz,  to  wash,  we  liave  exam- 
ined.    It  means,  to  perform  ablution  icith  n'at<?r  applied  to 


Sec.  XXXVIIL]         BAPTISM  OF  NAAMAJST.  159 

ilie  person.  It  does  not  mean,  to  immerse,  nor  can  the 
action  expressed  by  it  be  accomplished  by  immersion.  It 
is,  moreover,  observable,  that,  as  though  to  emphasize  the 
employment  of  this  word,  it  is  twice  repeated  in  the  narra- 
tive. Upon  receiving  Elisha's  message,  Naaman  exclaims, — 
"  Abana  and  Pharpar.  .  .  .  May  I  not  wash  in  them  and 
be  clean?"  And  his  servants  reply, — "  If  he  had  bid  thee 
do  some  great  thing,  .  .  .  how  much  rather,  when  he 
saith  to  thee,  Wash,  and  be  clean."  Manifestly,  the  thing 
which  the  Syrian  was  commanded,  was  not,  to  immerse, 
but,  to  ivash  himself.  And  when  to  the  meaning  of  that 
verb,  we  add  the  facts  already  developed  as  to  the  customs 
of  ablution  in  those  lands,  the  conclusion  is  manifest.  Naa- 
man  was  not  directed  to  dip  or  immerse  himself,  but  ex- 
pressly, to  wash ;  and  if  he  was  in  fact  dipped,  it  was  not 
"  according  to  the  saying  of  the  man  of  God,"  but  in  ex- 
press contravention  of  it.  It  may  be  objected,  that  a 
sprinkling  is  not  a  w'ashiug.  But  the  Psalmist  gives  a  dif- 
ferent testimony.  "  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be 
clean.  Wash  me  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow."  Here, 
the  word,  "  Wash,"  which  is  made  parallel  and  equivalent 
to  "Purge  me  with  hyssop,"  is  not  rahatz,  but  the  yet 
stronger  term,  kabas,  scour  me.  The  very  designation  of 
"  the  unclean,"  for  w^hose  "cleansing"  those  rites  were  ap- 
pointed is  conclusive  on  the  point.  That  the  sprinklings 
thus  ordained  were,  in  the  law  everywhere,  viewed  as 
washings,  is  undeniable ;  and  in  fiict,  to  wash  with  water 
applied,  which  is  the  meaning  of  rdhatz,  is  the  very  action 
of  sprinkling.  Moreover,  in  Ezek.  xvi,  9,  the  cleansing  of 
the  defilement  of  nidda,  for  which  sprinkling  w^as  the  rit- 
ual remedy,  is  described  as  a  washing  of  the  most  vigorous 
and  thorough  nature.  "Then  (rdhatz)  washed  7  thee  with 
water;  yea  (shataph),  I  thoroughly  washed  away  thy  blood 
from  thee."  How  the  sprinkling  of  w'ater  can  be  expres- 
sive of  such  thorougli  cleansing,  we  have  already  seen.  It 
is  very  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  language  of  the  Lord 


160  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLL\G.  [Pakt  V. 

to  Israel  by  Ezekiel.  "Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean 
water  upon  you  and  ye  shall  be  clean ;  from  all  your 
filthiness  and  from  all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you." — 
Ezek.  xxxvi,  25. 

The  usage  of  the  Scriptures,  as  to  words  equivalent 
to  iahal^  will  shed  further  light  on  the  present  ques- 
tion. The  word  is  ordinarily  represented  in  the  S'eptuagiut 
Greek,  by  hwpio.  Of  this  verb,  we  have  already  stated 
that  it  means  to  dip;  to  wet,  by  dipping;  to  wet  in  any 
mode;  to  stain  or  dye  by  dipping;  to  dye,  even  by  sprink- 
ling. In  the  Chaldee  of  the  book  of  Daniel,  the  word 
equivalent  to  tahal  is  izeha.  It  thrice  occurs  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  calamity  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  when  he  was  cast 
out  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  "his  body  wa^  ivet 
with  the  dew  of  heaven." — Dan.  iv,  23,  25,  33.  In  each 
of  these  places,  the  Septuagint  has  bapto,  an  illustration  of 
the  fact  that  the  latter  Avord,  even,  does  not  "always 
mean,  to  dip."  If  tdbal  followed  the  anal'ogy  of  these  its 
Greek  and  Chaldee  equivalents,  we  are  to  expect  among 
its  secondary  meanings  that  of  wetting  by  affusion.  In 
the  place  concerning  Naaman,  the  word  by  which  tdhal 
is  translated  into  the  Greek  is  haptizo.  This  fact  of  itself 
makes  it  certain  that  the  Septuagint  translators  did  not 
understand  Naaman  to  have  been  dipped,  or  immersed;  else 
they  would  have  expressed  the  fact  by  bapto,  or  kataduo, 
instead  of  baptizo,  which,  in  their  vocabulary,  as  we  shall 
presently  show,  was  used  to  express  purification  by  sprink- 
ling with  the. water  of  separation;  as  we  have  already  seen 
Paul  to  employ  it  in  the  same  way. 

2.  While  these  facts,  of  themselves,  make  it  certain 
that  Naaman  was  not  immersed,  there  remains  evidence 
even  more  conclusive,  in  the  relation  which  Elislia  himself 
and  this  whole  transaction  sustained  to  the  covenant  law, 
as  given  to  Israel  at  Sinai.  In  considering  this  case,  there 
are  certain  fundamental  facts  to  be  held  ever  in  view. 
(1.)  Leprosy  was,  at  once,  a  disease  and  a  ritual  unclean- 


Sue.  XXXVIII.]  BAPTISM  OF  NAAMAN.  161 

ness;  and  was  distinctly  recognized  in  these  two  several 
aspects,  in  the  law  of  God;  and  hence  the  leper  could  not 
but  be  ritually  unclean,  whilst  the  mere  healing^  of  the 
disease  left  him  still  unclean.  He  must  be  purified  as 
well  as  healed.  (2.)  The  ritual  law  was  not  a  scheme  of 
arbitrary  or  unmeaning  regulations,  but  a  system  of  accor- 
dant symbols,  each  of,  which  had  its  own  distinct  meaning, 
and  all  of  which  together  constituted  a  complete  and  intel- 
ligible exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  sin  and  redemption. 
Particularly  had  the  ritual  respecting  leprosy  a  meaning 
at  once  manifest,  impressive,  and  profound.  So  important 
was  it,  in  the  estimation  of  the  divine  Lawgiver  of  Israel, 
that  the  strict  observance  of  all  its  requirements  was  en- 
forced by  a  new  and  special  admonition  addressed  to  them 
on  the  banks  of  Jordan,  after  the  forty  years  wandering 
in  the  wilderness.  "Take  heed,  in  the  plague  of  leprosy, 
that  thou  observe  diligently  and  do  according  to  all  that 
the  priests  the  Levites  shall  teach  you;  as  I  commanded 
them,  so  ye  shall  observe  to  do.  Kemember  what  the 
Lord  thy  God  did  unto  Miriam  by  the  way,  after  that  ye 
were  come  forth  out  of  Egypt." — Deut.  xxiv,  8,  9.  (3.) 
Tliis  law  had  now  been  in  operation  for  six  hundred  years, 
whilst  its  regulations  were  such  as  to  arrest  and  hx  the 
attention  of  all  observers.  (4.)  To  Naaman,  a  Syrian,  of 
a  country  immediately  contiguous  to  the  land  of  Israel, 
and  belonging  to  a  people  of  kindred  blood,  language,  tra- 
ditions, and  customs,  the  Hebrew  ideas  on  this  subject,  so 
interesting  to  him,  can  not  have  been  unknown  or  strange. 
Even  had  he  been  otherwise  ignorant,  he  could  not  but 
have  been  informed  by  the  Hebrew  maiden  at  whose  sug- 
gestion he  undertook  his  journey  to  the  court  of  Israel,  in 
quest  of  healing.  That  hers  must  have  been  a  character 
of  both  intelligence  and  piety,  is  evident  from  the  whole 
narrative,  and  especially  from  the  fact  that  it  inspired  such 
confidence  as  led  the  Syrian,  at  her  suggestion,  to  obtain 

from  his  king  letters  to  the   king  of  Israel,  and   to  go  to 

14 


162  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Paut  V. 

that  court,  iu  the  hope  of  cure,  bearing  with  him  rich 
gifts,  designed  as  tokens  of  gratitude.  (2  Kings,  v,  2-5.) 
(5.)  The  whole  history  shows  this  episode  in  the  Hfe  of 
Ehsha  to  have  been  any  thing  but  a  casual  incident.  It 
bears  every  mark  of  a  special  and  extraordinary  providence, 
designed  to  bring  home  to  the  Syrians  and  to  Israel  a  sig- 
nal testimony  to  the  power  and  grace  of  the  true  God. 
The  pecuhar  relation  which  Elijah  and  Elisha  bore  to  the 
Syrians  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that,  at  this  very  time, 
the  latter  held  a  commission  from  God  through  Elijah  to 
anoint  Hazael  to  be  king  of  Syria,  instead  of  the  reigning 
king  Benhadad ;  by  Elisha's  subsequent  presence  in  Da- 
mascus, in  fulfillment  of  that  commission,  and  by  the  appli- 
cation which  Benhadad  made  to  him,  to  inquire  of  the 
Lord  as  to  the  issue  of  the  disease  which  was  then  upon 
him.     (1  Kings  xix,  15-17;  2  Kings  viii,  7-13.) 

3.  Ehsha  treats  the  case  of  Naaman  as  typical  in  its 
nature,  and  as  coming  under  the  provisions  of  the  law  for 
the  cleansing  of  leprosy.  This  is  manifest  from  three 
things  which  appear  in  the  very  brief  narrative.  (1  )  In 
his  message  to  Naaman,  he  distinguishes  between  the  phys- 
ical healing,  and  the  ritual  cleansing.  "Thy  flesh  shall 
Gome  again  unto  thee;  and,  thou  shalt  he  dean."  Thus 
each  is  separately  promised.  (2.)  He  requires  Naaman  to 
'.'  wash  seven  times.''  The  meaning  of  this  seven  times  we 
have  seen.  It  symbolized  a  radical  cure  of  the  evil  of 
heart  leprosy,  the  native  corruption  of  sin  — a  cure  by 
which  the  sinner  will  be  presented  pure  and  sanctified  in 
the  seventh,  or  judgment  day.  The  mode  of  this  cure  was 
represented  in  the  law  by  sprinkling  seven  times.  The 
priest  ''shall  sprinkle  upon  him  that  is  to  be  cleansed  from 
the  leprosy  seven  times,  and  shall  pronounce  him  clean." — 
Lev.  xiv,  7.  (3.)  He  must  wash  in  the  river  Jordan, 
a'ld  nowhere  else.  But  why  there?  Because  the  cleaijs- 
ing  of  the  leper,  according  to  the  law  must  be  by  sprink- 
ling with  "running  water." — Lev.  xiv,  5,  6,  50-52.     For 


Sec.  XXXVI 1 1.]        BAPTISM  OF  NAAMAN,  163 

the  self-washiDg,  no  siicli  prescription  was  given.  The 
Jordan  was  appointed,  because  heahng  to  the  leper  meant 
life  to  the  dead.  It  meant  the  renewing  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  for  this  none  but  the  water  of  life  that 
flows  in  the  river  of  the  heavenly  Canaan  will  suffice. 
And  inasmuch  as  the  land  of  Israel  was  typical  of  that 
better  country,  no  water  so  proper  for  the  present  occasion 
as  that  which  flow^ed  in  the  one  river  of  Israel.  If  Pales- 
tine was  made  a  type  of  heaven,  the  one  river  of  Palestine 
at  once  became  the  proper  type  of  that  "river  of  God, 
which  is  full  of  water."   • 

4.  Naaman  recognized  the  significance  of  the  directions 
given  by  the  prophet,  and  was  offended  at  them. — "  Behold, 
I  thought,  He  will  surely  come  out  to  me,  and  stand  and 
call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God,  and  strike  his  hand 
over  the  place,  and  recover  the  leper.  Are  not  Abana 
and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all  the 
waters  of  Israel  ?  May  I  not  wash  in  them  and  be  clean  ? 
So  he  turned  and  went  away  in  a  rage." — 2  Kings  v,  11,  12. 
Here  (1.)  Naaman  sharply  distinguishes  between  the  heal- 
ing and  the  cleansing.  For  the  latter  purpose,  the  waters 
of  Abana  and  Pharpar  were  sufficient  for  him, — better 
than  all  those  of  Israel.  All  he  wanted  was,  that  the 
prophet  should  heal  him ;  and  for  this  he  was  ready  to  re- 
ward him  liberally.  But,  instead  of  being  treated  with 
the  consideration  due  to  a  lordly  patron,  he  feels  himself 
insulted,  by  being  expected  to  take  the  position  of  an  un- 
clean and  humble  suppliant ;  and  that,  too,  at  the  feet  of 
the  God  of  Israel.  For,  (2.)  he  indicates  his  understand- 
ing of  what  was  meant  by  the  prophet's  message.  If 
Elisha  had  come  out  and  healed  the  leprosy,  as  Naaman 
expected,  it  would  have  been  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
idolatrous  religion  of  the  Syrian  to  recognize  Elisha  as  a 
great  prophet,  and  the  God  of  Elislia  as  one  of  the  great 
gods ;  although  entitled  to  no  exclusive  worship  from  the 
Syrians,  whose   tutelary  deity   was  Rimnion.     But,  when 


164  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Paut  V. 

the  prophet,  instead  of  this,  sent  him  to  Jm^dan  to  be 
cleansed,  and  that  by  washing  seven  times,  the  Syrian 
recognized  that  he  was  thus  required  to  own  allegiance  to 
the  God  of  Israel,  and  to  humble  himself,  as  utterly  un- 
clean in  His  sight,  and  look  to  him,  as  alone  able  to 
heal  his  leprosy,  or  cleanse  his  sins.  In  a  word,  he  was,  by 
the  message  of  the  prophet,  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
glad  but  humbling  word  of  the  gospel,  as  it  spake  so  clearly 
in  the  rites  of  cleansing  for  leprosy.  That,  in  the  result, 
he  accepted  the  good  tidings  thus  announced,  may  not  be 
asserted  with  confidence.  But,  that  he  professed  to  do 
so,  the  narrative  assures  us.  "Behold,  now,  I  know 
that  there  is  no  God  in  all  the  earth  but  in  Israel." — 
vs.  15.  By  this  profession  of  faith,  and  by  his  application 
to  Elisha  for  two  mules'  burden  of  the  earth  of  Canaan, 
with  which  to  make  an  altar  to  the  God  of  Israel,  the 
Syrian  showed  his  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  issues  in- 
volved in  the  observances  required  by  Elisha,  and  of  the 
typical  meaning  of  the  land  and  river  of  Israel.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  earth  for  which  he  asked  was  to  make  an  altar, 
after  the  manner  of  those  appointed  in  the  law ;  which  ap- 
pear to  have  been  frames  or  boxes  filled  with  earth  on 
which  the  fire  was  kindled.     (Ex.  xx,  24.) 

5.  The  attempt  of  some  writers  to  derive  countenance 
to  the  idea  of  immersion,  in  this  case,  from  the  Levitical 
rites  of  purifying  for  leprosy,  is  wholly  futile.  They  refer 
to  the  self-washings  which  were  required  of  the  cleansed 
leper,  and  assume,  without  a  pretense  of  proof,  that  they 
were  immersions.  We  have  seen  that  they  were  not  im- 
mersions, but  afiiisions.  But,  that 'it  was  not  to  them,  but 
to  the  sprinklings  of  the  law  that  the  directions  of  Elisha 
refer,  is  unmistakably  indicated  by  the  seven  times  required. 
The  self-washings  were  to  be  performed  but  twice.  On  the 
first  day,  the  seven  sprinklings  were  administered,  and  the 
person  was  then,  by  the  priest,  ofiicially  proclaimed  to  be 
clean.     (Lev.  xiv,  7.)     It  was  after  this,  that  the  man  thus 


Sfx.  XXXVIII.]         BAPTISM  OF  NA  A  MAN.  165 

clean,  was  required  to  perform  tbe  first  self-wasbiug.  This 
was  repeated  once  only, — on  the  eighth  day.  This  distinc- 
tion between  the  sprinklings  which  cleansed  the  leper,  and 
tbe  self-washings  which  were  required  of  him  as  being  clean, 
is  not  cas-ual,  but  essential,  and  intimately  involved  in  the 
difference  of  meaning  between  them.  By  no  system  of  in- 
terpretation, therefore,  can  seven  supposed  immersions  of 
Naaman  be  identified  with  the  two  self-washiugs  required 
by  the  law.  To  imagine  the  Syrian  to  have  been  directed 
to  seek  cleansing- by  means  of  the  latter,  and  not  by  the 
seven  sprinklings,  would  be  to  suppose  him  instructed  by 
the  prophet  to  seek  to  his  own  outward  righteousness  as  the 
means  of  purging  away  his  sins,  and  not  to  the  virtue  of 
the  blood  and  Spirit  of  Christ,  penetrating  to  his  heart  and 
renewing  the  inner  man.  Self-washing,  as  dependent  upon 
and  subordinate  to  the  sprinkling  of  the  water  and  blood, 
is  beautifully  significant  of  that  evangelical  obedience  and 
holiness  which  believers  cultivate,  whilst  resting  wholly  on 
the  righteousness  of  Christ;  and  which  is  acceptable  only 
thus.  But  a  self-washing,  without  the  sprinkling,  or 
even  magnified  to  equality  with  it,  can  mean  nothing  else 
than  a  disparagement  and  rejection  of  Christ's  blood  and 
Spirit,  and  a  trusting  to  our  own  works  of  righteousness, — 
to  a  cleansing  and  holiness  self-attained.  It  would  be  a 
denial  of  the  need  of  the  Spirit's  renewing  grace. 

6.  Israel  and  the  ordinances  given  her  were  appointed 
to  be  a  gospel  beacon  to  the  nations.  In  furtherance  of 
this  purpose,  the  rites  and  ordinances  with  which  she  was 
endow^ed  were  clothed  in  forms  of  transparent  significance, 
selected  by  divine  wisdom  as  best  adapted  to  set  forth  the 
gospel  for  men's  instruction.  To  suppose  Elisha,  on  this 
occasion,  to  have  ignored  or  essentially  modified  those 
respecting  leprosy,  would  imply  him  to  have  deliberately 
veiled  the  light  which  God  had  kindled  for  the  Gentiles. 
If  any  ritual  observances  were  required  ot  Naaman,  the 
alternative   was  inevitable,  that  they  be  those  appointed 


166  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING,  [Paut  V. 

in  the  law,  or  that  by  neglect  these  be  dishonored.  No 
motive  for  the  supposed  change  can  be  suggested  that  will 
not  imply  a  disparagement  of  the  neglected  rite. 

7.  The  distinctive  office  successively  filled  by  Elijah 
and  Elisha  was  that  of  prophet  to  the  separated  kingdom 
of  Israel,  to  whom  they  were  sent  to  vindicate  the  repudi- 
ated covenant  of  Sinai  against  the  apostasies  and  sins  of 
that  people.  (1  Kings,  xix,  8,  10,  14-18.)  They  were 
appointed  to  keep  alive  in  Israel  the  knowledge  and  faith 
of  the  covenant  God  and  King  whose  worship  and  ordi- 
nances at  Jerusalem  they  had  wickedly  abandoned.  In 
the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  Naaman  the  offerings 
which  the  cleansed  leper  was  required  to  make  at  the  tem- 
ple on  the  eighth  day  after  his  purifying,  may  have  been 
omitted.  But  the  supposition  that  the  rites  proper  to  the 
purifying,  itself,  were  changed  without  necessity  or  appar- 
ent motive,  so  that  instead  of  being  sprinhled  seven  times, 
Naaman  was  seven  times  iinmersed,  would  imply  that  Elisha 
not  only  thus  publicly  repudiated  the  authority  of  the  Le- 
vitical  law,  but  at  the  same  time  and  in  so  doing  gave  direct 
sanction  to  the  conduct  of  Israel,  in  separating  themselves 
from  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  and  the  ordinances  and  wor- 
ship which,  by  divine  command,  were  there  observed. 
The  rites  of  purifying  were  part  and  parcel  of  the  system 
of  ordinances  given  to  Israel  and  concentrated  at  the  sanc- 
tuary,— a  system,  in  all  its  parts,  congruous  and  interde- 
pendent ;  each  shedding  mutual  light  on  all  the  rest.  If 
Naaman  was  sprinkled  seven  times,  according  to  the  Le- 
vitical  order,  that  fact  would  of  itself  have  referred  him  to 
the  Word  and  ordinances  of  God,  for  light  and  information, 
as  to  the  vastly  important  questions  suggested  to  him  by 
the  nature  and  manner  of  his  disease  and  cleansing.  But, 
if  he  was  immersed,  the  observance  was  without  authority 
in  the  law;  without  example  in  the  Word,  then  possessed 
or  afterward  given  to  Israel;  without  point  of  contact  or 
principle  of  cougruity  or  connection  with  the  system  therein 


Sec.  XXXVIIL]         BAPTISM  OF  NAAMAN.  _         167 

unfolded  ;  without  explanation  anywhere,  and  without  con- 
ceivable motive  or  meaning,  unless  it  was,  to  repudiate  the 
authority  of  the  Levitical  law.  Instead,  therefore,  of  the 
ordinance  being  a  guide  line,  to  lead  Naanian  to  the  Word 
and  worship  of  the  true  God,  the  natural  effect  of  such  a 
change  as  is  supposed  would  have  been  to  deter  him  from 
any  such  inquiries.  The  facts  would  have  certified  him 
that  the  God  of  EHsha  was  not  the  same  that  reigned  at 
Jerusalem ; — that  the  doctrine  of  the  one,  set  forth  in  the 
rite  of  sprinkling,  was  manifestly  different  from  that  of  the 
other  expressed  by  immersion, — and  that,  therefore,  the 
Word  and  ordinances  of  the  God  who  dwelt  in  Zion  were 
likely  to  mislead  him,  rather  than  to  shed  a  true  light  upon 
the  character  of  the  God  of  Eiisha,  by  whom  he  had  been 
healed.  The  snare  thus  presented  to  the  mind  of  Naaman 
would  liave  been  the  more  insidious  and  fatal  in  propor- 
tion as  he  should  still  have  recognized  an  intimate  relation, 
or  even  a  kind  of  identity,  between  the  God  of  Israel  and 
the  God  of  Judah.  It  was  a  general  characteristic  of  the 
ancient  idolatries,  that  the  same  gods,  as  worshiped  at  dif- 
ferent places,  were  supjwsed  to  be  endowed  with  different 
attributes  and  affinities,  and  to  require  different  rites  of 
worship.  Thus,  Zeus  Olympius,  Jupiter  Capitolinus,  and 
Jupiter  Amon,  were  looked  upon  as  the  same  deity ;  but 
revealing  one  character,  as  on  Olympus  he  was  worshiped 
by  the  tribes  of  Greece ;  another,  as,  on  the  Capitoline 
hill  he  presided  over  the  destinies  of  mighty  Rome ;  and 
yet  another  to  the  dark  tribes  who  assembled  at  his  tem- 
ple in  Thebes  in  Upper  Egypt.  Such  was  the  idolatry 
which  the  supposed  rite  would  have  tended  to  confirm  in 
the  mind  of  Naaman.  To  all  this  we  are  to  add  the  fact 
that  the  very  purpose  of  tlie  miracle  wrought  by  Eiisha 
was  to  let  the  Syrian  *'  know  that  there  is  a  prophet  in  Is- 
rael."— 2  Kings  V,  8.  Not,  certainly,  that  EHsha  thus  pro- 
posed to  glorify  himself:  but  to  announce  himself  a  prophet 
and  witness,  for  the  only  living  and   true   God,  the  God 


168  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

of  Israel,  whose  sanctuary  was  in  Zion.  (Compare  lb. 
15-18.) 

8.  The  fact  that  no  admmistrator  is  menticmed,  but 
Naaman  is  said  to  have  "  baptized  himself,"  is  no  embar- 
rassment to  our  position.  The  self-baptism  implied  by  the 
phrase,  in  the  English  translation,  is  not  required  by  the 
form  of  the  Greek  nor  of  the  Hebrew.  Tlie  same  kind  of 
expression  is  used,  in  the  directions  originally  given  as  to 
the  water  of  separation.  "If  he  purify  not  himself  the 
third  day,  then  the  seventh  day  he  shall  not  be  clean. 
Whosoever  toucheth  the  dead  body  of  any  man  that  is 
dead,  and  purifieth  not  himself  .  .  .  the  water  of  separation 
was  not  sprinkled  on  him ;  he  shall  be  unclean.  ...  A  clean 
person  shall  sprinkle  on  the  unclean  on  the  third  day  and  on 
the  seventh." — Num.  xix,  12,  13,  19.  The  form  of  ex- 
pression is  intended  to  emphasize  the  respousibihty  of  the 
person  in  the  matter  of  his  own  cleansing,  and  is  equiv- 
alent in  meaning  to  the  phrase, — "cause  himself  to  *be 
sprinkled."  Although  he  can  not  cleanse  himself,  he  is 
not  therefore  irresponsible.  He  must  seek  to  the  cleansing, 
if  he  would  enjoy  it.  The  same  form  is  used  by  Paul,  who 
speaks  of  Ananias  as  saying  to  him  (^Anastas,  baptisai), 
"  Rising,  baptize  thyself,  and  wash  away  thy  sins." — Acts 
xxii,  16.  In  the  parallel  account,  we  are  told  that  "  he 
arose  and  was  baptized." — Acts  ix,  18. 

It  has  been  shown  already  that,  in  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  baptismoi  means  the  sprinklings  ordained  in  the 
law  for  defilements  of  which  leprosy  was  one.  In  our  next 
section,  it  will  appear  that  the  sprinkling  of  the  water  of 
separation,  upon  those  defiled  by  the  dead,  was  familiarly 
known  as  a  baptizing.  And  as  to  the  case  of  Naamau,  the 
considerations  here  presented  render  it  certain  that  baptizo 
is  there  used  in  the  same  sense.  He  was  not  immersed, 
but  spriulded  seven  times,  according  to  the  law.  TCibal  is 
here  used,  not  in  a  modal  sense,  but  to  express  a  cleansing, 
without  defining  the  manner  of  it. 


Skc.  XXXIX.]     BAPTIZED  FROM  THE  DEAD.  169 

Section  XXXIX.— ''^optizefi  jrom  tJie  Dead." 

The  book  of  Ecclesiasticus,  or  ''The  Wisdom  of  Jesus 
the  son  of  Sirach,"  is  one  of  the  Apochrypha.  It  was 
written  by  Joshua  ben  Sira  ben  EUezer,  a  priest,  at  Jeru- 
salem, about  two  hundred  years  before  the  coming  of 
Christ.  "The  original  Hebrew,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  fragments  in  the  GenTaras  and  Midrashim,  is  no  longer 
extant,  but  we  have  translations  in  Greek,  Syriac,  and 
Arabic.  The  work  has  been  always  held  in  high  esteem, 
by  both  Jews  and  Christians,  and  was  judged  by  some  of 
the  Talmudists  to  be  worthy  of  a  place  among  the  canon- 
ical Scriptures."*  In  this  work,  the  priestly  author  has 
■written  this  proverb,  "He  that  is  baptized  from  the  dead, 
and  again  toucheth  the  dead,  what  availeth  his  washing?" — 
Ecclus.  xxxi,  30  (xxxiv,  25  of  the  English  version). 
Here,  it  is  unquestionable  that  reference  is  had  to  the 
cleansing  of  those  who  were  defiled  by  the  dead.  Such 
persons  were  "baptized  from  the  dead,"  that  is,  purged 
from  the  defilement,  incurred  through  the  touch  of  the 
dead,  by  the  sprinkling  of  the  water  of  separation.  It  has 
been  said,  by  Baptist  writers,  that  the  author  of  the  prov- 
erb meant  to  designate  the  self-washing  which  was  required 
of  those  who  had  been  thus  sprinkled.  But,  in  the  first 
place,  we  must  again  repeat  it,  the  self-washings  were  not 
immersions.  In  the  second,  they  were  not  the  purification 
from  the  dead.  On  that  point,  the  law  was  express. 
"  The  man  that  shall  be  unclean,  and  shall  not  purify 
himself,  that  soul  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  the  congre- 
gation, because  he  hath  defiled  the  sanctuary  of  the  Lord: 
the  water  of  separation  hath  not  been  sprinkled  upon  him; 
he  is  unclean." — Num.  xix,  20.  The  self-washings  are 
never  called  purifyings,  nor  alluded  to  by  that  name.  Be- 
sides, as  before  remarked,  on  another  point,  the  pre-emi- 
nence thus  assigned  to  those  washings,  as  compared  with 

*  J.  W.  Etheridge,  in  "Jerusalem  and  Tiberias."     P.  105. 
15 


170  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Paut  V. 

the  sprinkliDgs,  is  contrary  to  the  whole  spirit  and  tenor 
of  the  law,  and  Avould  imply  a  preference  given  to  our  own 
righteousness,  which  the  former  symbolized,  over  the  blood 
of  sprinkling  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  his  renewing  Spirit, 
typified  by  the  latter.  Moreover,  upon  this  view,  we  are 
to  suppose  that  the  author  of  the  proverb,  himself  a  priest, 
ignored  that  ofiicial  sprinkling  which  must  be  performed 
by  a  clean  person,  acting  in  priestly  capacity,  and  which, 
in  his  days,  was  performed  almost  invariably  by  the  priests, 
and  falsely  attributed  the  consequent  cleansing  to  the  self- 
washing,  which  was  a  private  personal  duty  of  the  cleansed. 
On  the  relative  position  of  the  two  ordinances,  the  prayer 
of  the  Psalmist,  in  his  deep  sense  of  guilt  and  defilement 
is  very  significant.  "Purge  me  with  hyssop.  Wash  me." 
He  does  not  once  think  of  self-washing,  but  looks  up  to 
the  great  High  Priest  for  all.  It  was  unquestionably  of 
the  sprinkled  water  of  separation  that  this  writer  says, 
"He  that  is  baptized  from  the  dead,  and  again  toucheth 
the  dead  what  availeth  his  washing?"  Here  again  we 
have  an  impregnable  demonstration.  We  have  before 
seen  that  Paul  testifies  that  the  sprinklings  of  the  Mosaic 
system  were  baptisms.  We  now  have  the  added  voice  of 
the  son  of  Sirach  certifying  the  same  thing.  By  the 
mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  shall  every  "word  be  estab- 
lished. These  witnesses  are  ignorant  or  false,  or  else  5ap- 
iizo  does  not  here  mean,  to  dip,  to  immerse. 

This  conclusion  is  yet  farther  confirmed  by  the  light 
which  the  above  proverb  sheds  upon  a  passage  in  the 
writings  of  Paul,  which  has  greatly  perplexed  expositors. 
"Else  what  shall  they  do  which  are  baptized  for  the  dead, 
if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all?  why  are  they  then  baptized  for 
the  dead?" — 1  Cor.  xv,  29.  Paul  is  discussing  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection.  As  elsewhere  in  the  epistle,  so 
here,  he  assumes  his  readers  to  know  the  law  of  Moses. 
(Compare  1  Cor.  ix,  8-10;  x,  1-10.)  To  it,  he,  therefore, 
appeals. — "You  know  that  there  is  in  the  law  an  ordi- 


Skq.  XXXIX.]      BAPTIZED  FROM  THE  DEAD.  171 

nance  for  the  ritual  restoration  of  auch  as,  by  contact  with 
the  dead,  have  become  ritiially  dead.  But  what  means 
this  rite?  If  the  saints  shall  not  really  be  raised  up,  to 
what  intent  is  this  ritual  resurrection?"  That  such  was 
the  meaniug  of  Paul,  will  hardly  be  questioned  by  any 
who  consider,  (1.)  That  the  law  of  defilement  by  the  dead, 
and  of  purification  with  the  water  of  separation,  was  a 
statute  of  universal  obligation  to  Israel,  at  home,  and  in 
foreign  lands:  (2.)  That  the  ordinance  and  its  observance 
were  so  familiar  that,  two  hundred  years  before  Christ,  it 
was  made  the  ground  of  the  proverb  above  cited.  As  we 
shall  presently  see,  it  is  mentioned  by  Philo  and  by  Jose- 
phus  as,  in  their  days,  universally  observed:  (3.)  That  it 
was  known  to  Paul  by  the  name  of  baptism :  (4.)  That  it 
meant  the  giving  of  life  to  the  dead :  (5.)  That,  hence, 
whatever  might  be  Paul's  allusion,  it  was  a  fact,  through- 
out the  dwellings  of  Israel,  that,  whenever  death  visited  a 
house,  it  involved  the  consequent  necessity  of  the  baptism 
of  the  family  and  attendants, — a  baptism  which  signified 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is,  therefore,  beyond  ques- 
tion that  Paul  meant  to  refer  to  that  Levitical  purification. 
Such  were  the  facts  that  his  readers  could  not  but  so  un- 
derstand him.  Moreover,  his  expression  here,  and  that 
which  we  have  heretofore  examined  concerning  the  divers' 
baptisms  of  the  law,  mutually  illustrate  each  other  and 
confirm  all  our  conclusions  on  the  subject. 

Thus,  starting  with  the  "divers  baptisms"  of  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  we  have  identified  them  with  the  seal  of 
the  Sinai  covenant  and  the  water  of  separation.  We  have 
traced  the  ordinance  in  the  historical  books,  the  Psalms 
and  the  prophets ;  have  found  it,  in  the  time  of  the  son  of 
Sirach,  familiarly  known  as  baptism,  and  have  recognized 
it  in  the  New  Testament  itself,  referred  to  by  the  same 
name,  by  that  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  the  apostle  Paul. 
AVe  may  add  tliat  the  same  apostle  again  refers  to  imita- 
tions of  this  ordinance  in  his  dissuasive  against  ''doctrines 


172  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

of  baptisms."  (Heb.  vi,  2.)  Here,  he  alludes  to  those 
Pharisaic  rites  which  under  the  same  Dame  were  coDdemned 
by  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  reproved  them  as  "teaching  for 
doctrines  the  commandments  of  men,"  concerning  their 
baptizings.     (Mark,  vii,  7,  8.) 

Section  XL. — Judith's  Baptisms. 

Returning  to  the  Apocrypha,  the  next  example  of  bap- 
tism occurs  in  the  book  of  Judith.  The  book  dates  from 
the  period  of  the  Maccabean  kings  of  Judah,  between  one 
and  two  hundred  years  before  Christ ;  is  a  historical  fiction, 
and  is  designed  to  present,  in  the  person  of  Judith,  an 
ideal  type  of  female  piety,  courage,  and  virtue,  as  con- 
ceived by  the  Jews  of  that  age.  According  to  the  story, 
"Nabuchodonosor,  the  king  of  Nineveh,"  being  incensed 
against  the  Jews,  had  doomed  them  to  destruction.  He 
therefore  sent  Holofernes,  with  a  large  army  to  execute  his 
vengeance.  This  army  being  re-enforced  by  the  Ammon- 
ites and  the  sons  of  Esau,  the  mighty  host,  enters  on  the 
siege  of  Bethulia,  a  frontier  city  of  Judah.  Surrounding 
the  city  and  filling  the  whole  country,  they  sieze  "the 
water  and  the  fountain  of  waters,"  upon  which  Bethulia 
depended  for  its  supply.  Soon,  "all  the  vessels  of  water 
failed  all  the  inhabitants  of  Bethulia,  and  the  cisterns  were 
emptied,  so  that  they  had  not  water,  to  drink  their  fill, 
one  day ;  for  they  gave  them  drink  by  measure." — Judith 
vii,  12-21. 

In  this  extremity,  the  elders  of  the  city  yield  to  the 
clamor  of  the  famished  populace,  and  promise  that  if  suc- 
cor should  not  come  within  five  days  they  will  surrender 
the  city  to  the  Assyrians.  It  is  now  that  the  young  and 
beautiful  widow,  Judith,  appears  on  the  scene.  Rebuking 
the  elders,  for  their  lack  of.  faith  and  courage,  she  decks 
herself  and  goes  forth  to  beguile  Holofernes,  whom,  in  the 
sequel,  she  slays,  in  his  drunkenness,  with  his  own  sword, 
and  so  delivers  her  nation.     When  she  came  to  the  Assy- 


Skc.  XL.]  JUDITH'S  BAPTISM.  173 

riaus,  "  the  servants  of  Holofernes  brought  her  into  the 
tent,  and  she  slept  until  midnight,  and  she  arose  at  the 
morning  watch,  and  sent  to  Holofernes,  saying,  Let  my 
lord  now  command  that  thy  handmaid  be  allowed  to  go  out 
for  prayer.  And  Holofernes  commanded  his  body-guard 
not  to  hinder  her;  and  she  remained  in  the  tent  three 
days,  and  went  out  nightly  into  the  valley  of  Bethulia  and 
baptized  in  the  camp,  at  the  fountain  of  water,  And  as 
she  returned,  she  besought  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to  di- 
rect her  way  to  the  raising  up  the  children  of  her  people" — 
Jud.  xii,  5-8. 

Judith's  baptism,  was  evidently  not  one  of  those  re- 
quired by  the  law.  It  was  performed  statedly  every  night, 
as  a  preparation  for  prayer,  and  was,  no  doubt,  one  of  those 
washings  which  Jewish  tradition  was,  at  that  time,  multi- 
plying, and  which  were  so  rife  in  the  days  of  our 
Savior.  Judith's  maid  was  with  her,  and  this  baptism 
was  no  doubt  performed  in  the  ordinary  mode  of  washing, 
with  water  poured  on  her  hands.  As  to  the  place  of  her 
baptism,  the  language  is  explicit.  It  was  (en)  in  the 
camp,  but  (ej)i)  at  and  not  in  the  fountain.  Not  only 
does  the  language  thus  forbid  the  supposition  that  she 
was  immersed  in  the  fountain,  but  the  circumstances  were 
equally  conclusive.  She  was  a  young  and  beautiful  woman, 
in  the  midst  of  a  host  of  rude  and  licentious  soldiers  and 
followers  of  the  army.  They  held  the  fountain  with  jeal- 
ous care,  both  for  the  convenience  of  their  own  supply, 
and  as  the  sure  means  of  bringing  Bethulia  to  surrender. 
Judith  could  not  there  be  private  for  a  moment,  even  at 
midnight,  and  such  exposure  as  is  imagined  would  have 
been  an  invitation  to  certain  violence,  even  though  there 
had  been  no  question  of  defiling  the  very  fountain  whence 
the  camp  drew  its  supply  of  water. 

Baptist  writers,  to  prove  that  Judith,  nevertheless,  im- 
mersed herself,  cite  the  fact  that  "as  she  went  up  {anebe), 
she  besought  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to  direct  her  way  to 


174  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

the  raising  up  of  the  children  of  her  people."  But  Dr. 
Dale  has  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  very  same  language 
occurs  in  a  parallel  place  in  the  Septuagint  Greek,  where 
no  one  ever  pretended  to  find  an  immersion.  Rebekah 
"  went  down  to  the  well,  and  filled  her  pitcher  and  xi^eni  up 
(anebe)." — Gen.  xxiv,  15,  16.  The  fountain  of  Bethulia 
was  in  the  valley,  to  which  Judith  had  to  go  down  from 
the  head-quarters  of  Holofernes,  which  would  be  in  an  ele- 
vated position,  so  as  to  command  a  view  of  the  situation. 
To  suppose  the  going  up  to  be  out  of  the  water,  woidd  give 
her  a  time  for  prayer  so  brief  and  in  circumstances  so  pe- 
culiar as  to  give  the  suggestion  an  air  of  ridicule. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  impostor  Mohammed  was  as- 
sisted in  constructing  his  institutions  by  renegade  Jews, 
who  early  became  his  proselytes.  The  following  precept 
of  the  Koran  will  illustrate  the  practice  of  baptism  before 
prayer :  "  O  true  believers,  when  ye  prepare  to  pray,  wash 
your  faces  and  your  hands  unto  the  elbows ;  and  rub  your 
heads  and  your  feet  unto  the  ankles ;  and  if  ye  be  pol- 
luted .  .  .  wash  yourselves  (all  over).  But  if  ye  be  defiled, 
and  ye  find  no  water,  take  fine  sand,  and  rub  your  faces 
and  your  hands  therewith.  God  would  not  put  a  difficulty 
upon  you.  But  he  desireth  to  purify  you,  and  to  complete 
his  favor  upon  you,  that  ye  may  give  thanks."*  This  reg- 
ulation by  Mohammed  is  remarkable  in  relation  to  that 
request  of  Peter, — "Lord  not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my 
hands  and  my  head." — John  xiii,  9.  Both  he  and  the 
prophet  of  Mecca  would  seem  to  have  had  in  view  the 
same  custom  of  the  scribes. 

From  the  passages  thus  examined  it  appears  that  in 
Hellenistic  Greek  the  word,  haptizo  was  employed  to  desig- 
nate two  classes  of  cleansings, — the  sacramental  sprinklings 
of  the  law,  and  the  self-imposed  washiness  of  tradition,  the 
mode  of  which,  whether  performed  by  aff'usion  or  sprink- 
ling, is  not  clear.     As  to  the  former:  the  proverb  of  the 

*  Sale's  **  Koran,"  chapter  v. 


Sec,  XLL]  PHILO  AND  yOSEPHUS.  175 

SOU  of  Sirach  is  clearly  a  reference  to  the  sprinkled  water 
of  separation.  To  the  same  class,  the  arguments  adduced 
entitle  us  to  refer  the  baptism  of  Naaman.  To  the  rites 
of  self-Avashing  the  case  of  Judith  is  to  be  assigned, — not 
to  those  appointed  by  the  law,  but  those  imitations  of  the 
scribes  which  obscured  the  meaning  of  the  ordinance,  as 
appointed  of  God. 

Section  XLI. — Tlie  Water  of  Separation  in  Philo  aiid 
Josephus. 

Philo,  commonly  called  Judseus,  was  a  Jew  of  Alex- 
andria, who  was  cotemporary  with  the  apostles.  He  thus 
expounds  the  laws  of  purification : — 

"The  law  requires  him  who  brings  a  sacrifice  to  be 
clean  in  body  and  soul ; — in  his  soul,  from  all  passions,  dis- 
order and  vices,  whether  in  word  or  deed ;  and  pure  in 
body,  from  such  things  as  ritually  defile  it.-!^  And  it  has 
appointed  a  purification  for  each  of  these ;  for  the  soul,  by 
animals  suitable  for  sacrifice ; — for  the  body,  by  (loutron 
kai  'perirrhanteridii)  ablutions  and  sprinklings.  .  .  .  The 
body  is  purified,  as  I  have  said  by  washings  and  sprink- 
lings ;  nor  does  the  law  allow  a  person  washed  and  sprinkled 
once  to  enter  immediately  the  sacred  courts ;  but  requires 
him  to  wait  without,  seven  days;  and  to  be  sprinkled 
twice,  on  the  third  day  and  on  the  seventh  ;  and  after  these, 
having-  washed  himself,  it  admits  him  to  enter  and  share 
the  sacred  rites.  It  is  to  be  considered  what  judgment 
and  philosophy  there  is  in  this.  For,  nearly  all  other  peo- 
ple are  sprinkled  with  mere  water,  the  most  drawing  it 
from  the  sea;  some  from  rivers,  and  others  again  out  of 
vessels  of  water  replenished  from  fountains.  But  Moses, 
providing  ashes  from   sacrificial  fire  (and  in  what  manner 


*a0'  uv  eSoq  avro  maveadai. — "  From  those  things  which  cus- 
tom causes  to  defile  it."  "Woq^  commonly  means  a  custom 
grounded  in  law.  (Compare  Acts  vi,  14;  xv,  1 ;  xvi,  21 ;  xxi, 
21;  XXV,  16;  xxvi,  3;  xxviii,  17;  etc.) 


176  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

will  be  shown  presently),  directed  that  some  of  these 
should  be  put  into  a  vessel,  and  water  poured  upon  them ; 
and  then  dipping  twigs  of  hyssop  in  the  mixture,  to  sprinkle 
those  who  were  to  be  cleansed. 

"It  is  now  proper  to  explain  the  suitableness  of  these 
ashes.  For  they  are  not  bare  ashes  of  wood,  consumed  by 
fire,  but  of  an  animal  suited  to  such  purification.  For  it 
is  required  that  a  red  heifer  which  has  never  borne  the 
yoke  be  sacrificed  outside  the  city,  and  that  the  high  priest, 
taking  some  of  the  blood,  shall  seven  times  sprinkle  with  it 
toward  the  front  of  the  temple,  and  shall  then  burn  the 
whole  animal  with  its  hide  and  flesh,  its  viscera  and  dung. 
And  when  the  flame  declines,  that  these  three  things  be 
cast  into  the  midst  of  it ; — a  stick  of  cedar^  a  stick  of  hys- 
sop, and  a  bunch  of  cummin.  And  when  the  fire  has 
wholly  expired,  it  is  required,  that  a  clean  person  collect 
the  ashes  and  deposit  them  outside  the  city,  in  a  clean 
place."* 

Josephus  was  a  Jewish  priest,  who  was  made  prisoner 
by  Titus,  in  the  war  which  ended  in  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem. He  afterward,  at  Eome,  wrote  his  Jewish  "An- 
tiquities," and  his  "  History."  He  thus  describes  the  man- 
ner of  purifying  with  the  ashes  of  the  heifer.  "  Any  persons 
being  defiled  by  a  dead  body,  they  put  a  little  of  these 
ashes  and  hyssop  into  spring  water,  and  baptizing  with  these 
ashes  in  water,  sprinkled  them  on  the  third  day  and  on 
the  seventh."!  This  is  a  literal  translation  from  the  Greek 
of  Josephus ;  but  differs  from  the  popular  version  of 
Whiston.  He  renders  it,— "  They  put  a  little  of  these 
ashes  into  spring  water  with  hyssop,  and  dipping  part  of 
these  ashes  in  it,  they  sprinkled  them  with  it,"  etc.  But 
this  is  a  very  incorrect  translation,  is  incongruous  to  the 
ordinance  as  described  by  Moses,  and  converts  the  account 

"-••Philonis  Judsei  Opera  omnia,  Frankofurti,  1691,  De  Yie- 
timas  Offerentibus. 

t  Josephus,  Antiquities,  IV,  iv,  6. 


Skc.  XLI.]  PHILO  and  yOSEPHUS.  177 

into  nonsense.  According  to  it,  the  ashes  are  in  the  first 
place  put  into  the  water,  and  then  part  of  them  "dipped 
in  it !"  How  they  were  recovered  from  the  water,  in  order 
to  the  dipping,  and  how  the  ashes  could  be  dvp^ed  in  the 
water  at  all,  we  need  not  inquire,  as  the  translation  is  in- 
correct. •'  Baptizing  with  these  ashes-in-water,"  truly  rep- 
resents the  original.*  "Baptizing,"  was  the  action;  the 
mixture  of  "  ashes  in  w^ater,"  Avas  the  element;  "sprink- 
ling," the  mode;  and  "the  third  and  seventh  days,"  the 
time.  In  fact,  in  using  the  water  of  separation,  according 
to  the  law,  there  was  no  dipping  of  any  sort,  except  of  the 
hyssop  bush,  with  which  the  water  was  sprinkled.  The 
only  action  to  which  Josephus  can  refer, — that  to  which 
he  does  undoubtedly  refer, — by  the  word,  "  baptizing," 
is  the  purifying  rite,  of  Avhich  he  immediately  states  the 
form  to  have  been  a  sprinhling. 

To  get  rid  of  the  force  of  this  passage,  Baptist  writers 
have  proposed  an  arbitrary  alteration  of  the  text,  by  the 
erasure  of  the  entire  clause  (fe  Icai — pegen)  "with  these 
ashes  in  water."  The  change  thus  suggested  is  purely 
gratuitous.  The  reading  which  they  propose  is  without 
the  pretense  of  sanction  from  any  manuscript  of  Josephus, 
and  is  sustained  by  no  sound  principles  of  criticism.  Its 
only  warrant  is  the  necessities  of  the  Baptist  position.  On 
the  contrary,  the  rendering  which  we  have  given  is,  in 
some  of  the  manuscripts  of  Josephus,  enforced  by  the  pre- 
position (meta)  with,  after  the  word,  "baptizing."  Accord- 
ing to  this  version,  the  passage  can  be  read  no  otherwise 
than  as  we  have  given  it.  "Baptizing  loith  these  ashes 
in  water." 

In  the  writings  of  Josephus  there  is  another  and  very 


«■  << 


BaTTTiaavrec  re  koI  ttjq  Tf<i)paq  Tav-Tjq  e'lt;  TC7iyr)vV  Tf/<;  rfcppac 
TavTT/c  is  the  partitive  and  instrumental  Genitive,  and  indicators 
the  ashes-in-water,  as  that  with  which  the  baptism  was  to  he 
l)erformed.  (Compare  John  ii,  7. — "  Fill  the  water  pots  with 
water.") 


178  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

characteristic  notice  as  to  the  use  of  the  Avater  of  separa- 
tion. Speaking  of  the  funeral  rites,  he  says,  ''Our  law 
also  ordains  that  the  house  and  its  inhabitants  shall  be 
purified  after  the  funeral  is  over,  that  every  one  may 
thence  learn  to  keep  at  a  great  distance  from  the  thought 
of  being  pure,  if  he  hath  once  been  guilty  of  murder."* 
We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  spiritual  meaning  of  these 
rites  had  been  so  utterly  lost  by  the  Jews,  that  Josephus, 
a  priest,  a  Pharisee,  a  man  of  extensive  learning  and  rep- 
utation, imagined  this  to  be  a  true  account  of  the  nature 
and  meaning  of  the  ordinance.  But  he  was  speaking  in 
defense  of  Judaism,  against  the  assaults  of  Apion,  a  Greek 
philosopher  of  Alexandria,  at  the  bar  of  the  pagan  j)hilos- 
ophy  of  Greece  and  Kome.  He  affects,  for  himself,  a  pro- 
foundly philosophic  style  and  spirit,  and  aims  to  vindicate 
a  similar  character  for  the  laws  and  institutions  of  Moses. 
Knowing  that  the  truths  of  God  as  committed  to  Israel 
would  be  foolishness  to  the  wise,  to  whose  apj)lause  he 
aspired,  he  sets  them  aside  in  favor  of  his  own  "philo- 
sophic" inventions.  He  seems  to  have  taken  the  sugges- 
tion from  certain  heathen  observances,  of  which  we  shall 
see  more  further  on. 

The  foregoing  extracts  not  only  illustrate  the  law  as  to 
the  water  of  separation,  and  the  use  of  the  word,  baptlzo,  with 
reference  to  it,  but  indicate  the  place  held  by  the  ordinance 
among  the  observances  of  Israel,  down  to  the  time  of  Jeru- 
salem's desolation. 

Section  XLII. — Imitations  of  these  Rites  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans. 

Placed  as  was  Israel  in  the  very  center  of  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  ancient  world,  and  on  the  direct  line  of  commu- 
nication between  its  peoples  and  empires,  her  influence 
upon  the  institutions  and  religious  rites  of  other  nations 
must  have  been  very  great,  and  is  traceable  in  every  direc- 

*  Josephus  against  Apion.     Book  ii,  27. 


Sec.  XLIL]  IDOLATROUS  IMITATIONS.  179 

tion.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Greece  and  its  colo- 
nies in  Italy,  from  which  sprang  the  republic  and  empire 
of  Rome,  derived  from  Israel  the  first  great  impulses  of 
their  civilization,  as  weU  as  continual  subsequent  contribu- 
tions to  its  maintenance  and  growth.  Israel  had  dwelt  in 
the  land  of  Canaan  about  three  hundred  years  before  the 
supjx)sed  era  of  the  siege  of  Troy,  and  seven  hundred  be- 
fore the  reputed  date  of  the  great  poems  of  Homer,  from 
the  silence  of  which  it  is  evident  that  to  him  letters  were 
wholly  unknown.  According  to  the  earliest  Greek  tradi- 
tion, Cadmus,  "  the  man  of  the  east,"  coming  with  a  colony 
of  Phoenicians  settled  in  Greece,  bringing  with  him  the  art 
of  alphalietic  writing.  But  at  what  age  he  lived,  or 
whether  he  was  not,  in  fact,  wholly  a  mythical  character  is 
a  matter  of  conjecture.  The  tradition,  however,  distinctly 
points  to. Phoenicia  as  the  land  whence  the  art  was  intro- 
duced into  Greece;  and  the  circumstances  accord  with  this 
supposition.  That  the  Greek  letters  were  derived  from 
those  called  Phoenician  is  an  undoubted  fact.  The  exten- 
sive commerce  maiutained  by  the  ships  of  Phoenicia  was  a 
constant  and  efficient  means  of  disseminating  the  seeds  of 
her  advancing  civilization ;  and  besides,  the  sages  of  Greece 
were  accustomed  to  travel  to  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  and  the 
east,  in  search  of  knowledge;  and  returned  thence  with 
acquisitions  of  which  all  Greece  was  the  beneficiary. 
About  four  hundred  years  before  Christ,  Plato  himself 
was  in  Egypt  in  search  of  knowledge,  a  student  of  the 
priests  of  On.  At  this  time,  Egypt  was  full  of  Jews,  and 
it  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  such  an  inquirer  would  whoUy 
fail  to  catch  some  glimpses  of  the  light  which  shone  in 
the  institutions  and  literature  of  Israel. 

Many  things  concur  to  show  that  neither  Egypt  nor 
Phoenicia  was  the  original  fountain  of  much  that  was  thus 
disseminated  to  Greece.  In  some  instances,  the  attendant 
circumstances,  and  in  others  the  internal  evidence,  unmis- 
takably indicate  an  Israelite  origin.     Phoenicia  was  a  strip 


180  LATER  TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

of  sea-coast,  ten  or  twelve  miles  wide,  lying  between  the 
northern  part  of  the  land  of  Israel  and  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  Tyre  and  Sidon,  its  two  chief  cities,  were  the  only 
practicable  sea-ports  on  the  coast  of  Palestine.  They  were 
distant,  the  former,  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles, 
and  the  latter,  one  hundred,  from  Jerusalem.  Their  sup- 
plies were  derived  largely  from  the  fields,  the  vineyards, 
and  the  olive  groves  of  Israel.  (2  Chron.  ii,  10;  Acts  xii, 
20.)  Except  slight  provincial  differences,  the  language  of 
the  two  people  was  the  same;  and  the  intimacy  of  the  rela- 
tions is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  drift  of  dialect  in  the  two 
closely  coincided.  Hiram  king  of  Tyre,  was  David's  inti- 
mate friend,  and  Solomon's  faithful  and  efficient  ally,  in  the 
erection  of  the  temple  and  his  own  palace,  in  adorning 
Jerusalem,  and  in  commercial  enterprises.  His  relation 
with  David,  and  his  message  of  salutation  to  Solomon  (2 
Chron.  ii,  12)  argue  him  a  professed  worshiper  of  the  God 
of  Israel.  Thus,  whilst  the  Phoenician  territory  was  a 
mask  by  which  Israel  was  concealed  from  the  Mediterra- 
nean countries,  the  Phoenicians,  themselves,  can  not  but 
have  realized  a  profound  impression  from  the  wonderful 
system  of  religious  rites  and  the  testimonies  of  religious 
truth  which  were  maintained  in  Israel  and  centered  around 
that  temple  on  Mount  Sion,  which  was  a  monument  of 
Phoenician  skill  in  architecture  and  the  mechanic  arts.  The 
ideas  thus  communicated  and  the  impressions  thus  pro- 
duced must  have  been  borne  abroad  by  every  wind  that 
filled  a  Phoenician  sail,  and  disseminated  to  every  land  that 
was  touched  by  a  Phoenician  prow. 

The  art  of  alphabetic  writing  is  an  illustration  of  this. 
It  did  not  originate  in  Phoenicia,  but,  as  internal  evidence 
demonstrates, — with  the  Arameans,  of  whom  Israel  was  a 
branch.  The  Phoenician  characters  were  the  same  as  the 
Old  Hebrew.  Once  acquired  by  that  maritime  people,  the 
art  was  diffused  to  Greece,  to  Kome,  and  the  world.  The 
Egyptians  no  less  than  the  Phoenicians  were  idolaters,  hav- 


Sec.  XLIL]  IDOLATROUS  IMITATIONS.  181 

iiig  lords  many  and  gods  many.  When,  therefore,  the 
sages  of  Greece  returned  from  their  explorations,  prepared 
to  whisper  to  their  confidential  disciples  the  sublime  doc- 
trine of  the  divine  unity,  and  even  to  erect  an  altar  ''  To 
the  Unknown  God"^^  we  are  justified  in  the  conviction  that 
at  some  point  in  the  course  of  their  travels,  they  had 
caught  an  echo  of  that  voice  which  spake  to  the  twelve 
tribes  in  the  wilderness, — "Hear,  O  Israel:  the  Lord  our 
God  is  one  Lord." — Deut.  vi,  4.  To  the  same  originals 
undoubtedly  are  to  be  referred  many  of  the  ceremonials 
of  their  religion.  Of  this,  the  rules  of  nncleanness,  and 
rites  of  purifying  are  remarkable  illustrations. 

Of  the  various  forms  of  purification  among  the  Greeks, 
Plato  makes  an  enumeration. — '■'■T\\q  'piirifications  (hathar- 
moi)  both  according  to  medicine  and  vaticination,  both  the 
pharmacial  drugs,  {jpharmakois),  and  the  vaticinal  fumiga- 
tions (peritiieioseis)  as  also  the  washings  (loutra)  in  such 
rites,  and  the  sprinklings  (perirrhanseis) ; — are  not  all  these 
effectual  to  one  end, — to  render  a  man  pure,  both  as  to 
body  and  soul  ?"  f 

On  this  subject,  the  historian  Grote  makes  some  note- 
worthy statements. — "  The  names  of  Orpheus  and  Musaeus 
(as  well  as  that  of  Pythagoras,  looking  at  one  side  of  his 
character),  represent  facts  of  importance  in  the  history  of 
the  Grecian  mind,  ....  the  gradual  influx  of  Thracian, 

*  That  this  altar  was  the  expression  of  a  blind  though  real 
groping  after  the  true  God,  is  distinctly  attested  by  Paul. — 
"Whom  therefore  ye  ignorantly  worship,  Him  declare  I  unto 
you." — Acts  xvii,  23.  To  suppose  as  do  some  that  the  altar  was 
erected  by  one  who  was  uncertain  which  of  the  tutelary  dei- 
ties he  should  propitiate,  implies  Paul  to  have  resorted  to  a 
weak  pretense,  founded  on  the  mere  jingle  of  words,  which,  so 
far  from  constituting  an  appropriate  and  impressive  basis  for 
his  argument  and  appeal,  would  have  invited  the  derision  and 
contempt  of  his  skeptical  audience.  He  adopted  no  such  arti- 
fice ;  but  appealed  to  a  recognized  and  affectfng  fact. 

t  Plato,  in  Cratylo,  xxii. 


182  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

Phrygian  and  Egyptian  religious  ceremoDies  and  feelings, 
and  the  increasing  diffusion  of  special  mysteries,  schemes 
for  religious  purification,  and  orgies  (I  venture  to  Angli- 
cize the  Greek  word,  which  contains  in  its  original  mean- 
ing no  implication  of  the  ideas  of  excess  to  which  it  Avas 
afterward  diverted),  in  honor  of  some  particular  god,  dis- 
tinct from  the  public   solemnities,  and  from    the  gentile 

solemnities  of  primitive  Greece During  the  interval 

between  Hesiod  and  Onomakritus  [B.  C.  610-510],  the 
revolution  in  the  religious  mind  of  Greece  was  such  as  to 
place    both    these    deities    [Dyonisus    and    Demeter,    the 

Bacchus  and  Ceres  of  the  Latins]  in  the  front  rank 

From  all  these  countries  [Egypt,  Thrace,  Phrygia  and 
Lydia],  novelties  unknown  to  the  Homeric  men  found  their 
way  into  the  Grecian  worship;  and  there  is  one  amongst 
them  which  deserves  to  be  specially  noticed,  because  it 
marks  the  generation  of  the  new  class  of  ideas  in  their 
theology.  Homer  mentions  many  guilty  of  private  or  in- 
voluntary homicide,  and  compelled  either  to  go  into  exile, 
or  to  make  pecuniary  satisfaction ;  but  he  never  once  de- 
scribes any  of  them  to  have  either  received  or  required 
purification  for  the  crime.  Now,  in  the  times  subsequent 
to  Homer,  purification  for  homicide  comes  to  be  indispensa- 
ble. The  guilty  person  is  regarded  as  unfit  for  the  society 
of  men,  or  the  worship  of  the  gods,  until  he  has  received 
it ;  and  special  ceremonies  are  prescribed  whereby  it  is  to 
be  administered.  Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  ceremony  of 
purification  was  the  same  among  the  Lydians  and  the 
Greeks.  We  know  that  it  formed  no  part  of  the  early 
religion  of  the  latter,  and  we  may  reasonably  suspect  that 

they  borrowed   from   the  former The  purification 

of  a  murderer  was  originally  operated  not  by  the  hands  of 
any  priest  or  specially  sanctified  man,  but  by  those  of  a 
chief  or  king  who  goes  through  the  appropriate  ceremonies 
in  the  manner  represented  by  Herodotus,  in  his  pathetic 


Sec.  XLIL]  IDOLATROUS  IMITATIONS.  183 

narrative  respectiDg  Croesus  and  Atlrasliis.*  The  idea  of 
a  special  taint  of  crime,  and  of  the  necessity,  as  well  as 
the  sufficiency  of  prescribed  religious  ceremonies,  as  a  means 
of  removing  it,  ai)pears  thus  to  have  got  footing  in  Grecian 
practice  subsequent  to  the  time  of  Homer."  f 

Again  he  says, — "  Herodotus  had  been  profoundly  im- 
pressed with  what  he  saw  and  heard  in  Egypt.  The  won- 
derful monuments,  the  evident  antiquity,  and  the  peculiar 
civilization  of  that  country  acquired  such  preponderance 
in  his  mind,  over  his  own  native  legends,  that  he  is  dis- 
posed to  trace  the  oldest  religious  names  or  institutions  of 
Greece,  to  Egyptian  or  Phoenician  original,  setting  aside, 
in  favor  of  this  hypothesis,  the  Grecian  legends  of  Dyoni- 
sus  and  Pan."  J 

In  these  statements,  the  eminent  historian  seems  studi- 
ously to  avoid  a  recognition  of  the  direction  to  which  all 
his  facts  so  distinctly  point.  All  the  countries  mentioned 
by  him  border  on  the  Mediterranean,  and  were  in  constant 
and  intimate  communication  with  Egypt  and  Phoenicia,  the 
relations  of  which  with  Israel  are  too  well  known  to  need 
emphasis.  They  were,  in  fact,  the  channels  through  whicli 
Hebrew  ideas  must  ordinarily  pass,  in  order  to  gain  access 
to  Greece  and  the  continent  of  Europe.  To  whatever 
source  the  Greeks  may  have  been  immediately  indebted 
for  the  novel  ideas  of  a  special  stain  or  defilement,  result- 
ing from  crime,  and  of  ritual  j)urifying  from  it,  we  know 
that  they  Avere  incorporated  in  the  laws  and  ritual  of  Mo- 
ses ages  before  there  is  a  trace  of  them  in  any  of  the  coun- 
tries mentioned.     The  disposition  of  Herodotus   to   refer 


*But  Herodotus  does  not  "represent"  the  manner  of  the 
purifying  of  Adrastus.  Moreover,  the  legend  of  Croesus  and 
Adrastus,  is  fabulous,  as  appears  from  internal  evidence  (see 
Rawlinson's  note  on  tlie  place) ;  and  with  it,  the  theory  of  Grote. 
as  to  the  Lydian  ori^ijin  of  the  Greek  purifying  rites  falls  to  the 
ground.     See  Kawlinson's  Herodotus,  Hist.  I.  35. 

t  Grote  i,  29-35.  tib.  530. 


184  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

them  to  Egypt  and  Phoenicia  is  therefore  entitled  to 
more  respectful  consideration  than  our  author  gives  it. 
That  the  Gentile  rites  in  question,  however  grossly  cor- 
rupted, were  derived  from  divine  orighials,  must  be  man- 
ifest to  any  one  who  will  compare  the  significance  and 
beauty  of  the  Scriptural  rites  as  connected  with  the  spirit- 
ual truths  of  revelation,  which  they  symbolized,  with  the 
bareness  and  absurdity  by  w^hich  they  are  characterized,  in 
their  distorted  Gentile  forms,  detached  from  the  spiritual 
connection  to  which  they  natively  belonged. 

On  the  matters  of  which  it  treats,  no  authority  is  higher 
than  Dr.  Wm.  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiquities.  "^As  to  the  present  subject,  it  testifies  that 
their  purifyings,  "in  every  case  of  which  we  have  any 
certain  knowledge  were  comiected  with  sacrifices  and  other 
religious  rites,  and  consisted  in  the  sprinlding  of  water,  by 
means  of  a  branch  of  laurel  or  olive ;  and  at  Rome,  some- 
times by  means  of  the  asijergillum,  and  in  the  burning  of 
certain  materials  the  smoke  of  which  was  thought  to  have 
a  purifying  effect."* 

Of  the  Greek  heroes  the  Abbe  Barthelemi  says, — 
*'  They  shuddered  at  the  blood  they  had  spilt,  and  aban- 
doning their  throne  and  native  land,  went  to  implore  the 
aid  of  expiation  in  some  distant  country.  After  the  sacri- 
fices enjoined  them  by  the  ceremony,  a  purifying  water 
w^as  poured  upon  .the  guilty  hand,  after  which  they  again 
returned  into  society  and  prepared  themselves  for  new 
combats,  "f 

Of  the  Romans,  Ovid  says: — "Our  fathers  believed 
purifications  to  be  efiectual  for  blotting  out  every  crime 
and  every  cause  of  penalty.  Greece  w^as  the  source  of  the 
custom.  She  believes  the  guilty,  when  purified  with  lustral 
rites,  to  be  freed  from  the  guilt  of  their  evil  deeds.     Thus 

*  Smith's  Greek  and  Eoman  Antiquities,  article,  "Lus- 
tratio." 

t  Travels  of  Anacharsis,  Introduction. 


Sec.  XLIL]  IDOLATROUS  IMITATIONS.  185 

Peleus  purified  the  graudson  of  Actor ;  and  thus  Acastus, 
with  the  waters  of  Hsemus,  cleansed  Peleus  himself,  from 
the  blood  of  Phocus. — Ah  credulous  people !  who  su4)pose 
that  the  dreadful  crime  of  murder  can  be  obliterated  by 
(fluminea  aqua),  running  waters."* 

The  same  poet  describes  the  festival  of  Pales,  the 
tutelary  goddess  of  shepherds.  Some  days  before  her  fes- 
tival, cows  were  sacrificed  and  the  uuUorn  offspring  torn 
from  their  bowels  and  burned  with  fire  by  the  eldest  of 
the  Vestals,  "that  their  ashes  may  purify  the  people  on 
the  day  of  Pales."  On  the  festival  day  he  sings:  "lam 
called  to  the  Palilia.  .  .  .  Often,  truly,  have  I  carried  in 
my  full  hand  the  ashes  of  the  calf  and  the  bean  stalks, 
hallowed  purifiers.  Truly  I  have  leaped  over  the  fires 
kindled  in  three  rows,  and  the  dripping  branch  of  laurel 
has  scattered  the  water.  .  .  .  Go,  ye  people,  seek  the  fu- 
migation from  the  altar  of  the  virgin!  Vesta  will  give  it. 
By  the  grace  of  Vesta,  you  shall  be  purified.  The  blood 
of  a  horse  shall  be  your  fumigatory,  with  the  ashes  of  the 
calf,  and  third  the  empty  husk  of  the  hard  bean.  Shep- 
herd, purify  your  full  fed  flocks  in  the  early  twilight. 
Water  should  first  sprinkle  them,  and  a  twig  broom  should 
sweep  the  ground." f  Again,  he  tells  of  "a  fountain  of 
Mercury  near  the  Capanian  gate.  If  w^e  choose  to  believe 
those  who  have  tried  it,  it  has  a  divine  virtue.  Hither 
comes  the  merchant  with  purse-girdled  tunic,  and  being 
purified,  draws  water  which  he  may  carry  away  in  a  per- 
fumed vase.  In  this,  a  branch  of  laurel  is  moistened,  and 
with  the  wet  laurel  all  things  are  sprinkled  that  are  to 
have  new  owners.  He  sprinkles  his  own  locks,  also,  with 
the  dripping  bush,  and  with  a  voice  familiar  with  deceit 
oflTers  his  prayers.  'Wash  away  my  past  perjuries,'  says 
he :  '  Wash  away  the  falsehoods  of  the  past  day.  Whether 
I  have  called  thee  (Mercury),  to  witness,  or  have  called 
upon  the  great  majesty  of  Jove,  wishing  him  not  to  licar; 

*Ovidii  Fast.ii,  vs.  27-46.        tib.  iv,  033-640;  731-736. 
16 


186  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLIXC.  [Part  V. 

or,  if  I  have  been  false  to  any  other  god  or  goddess,  let 
the  swift  zephyrs  carry  away  my  dishonest  words,  and  let 
my  perjuries  be  obliterated  by  to-morrow.  Let  not  the 
superior  powers  give  heed  to  what  I  may  say.'"* 

In  Virgil,  ^ueas,  preparing  for  flight  from  the  over- 
throw of  Troy,  says  to  his  father, — "  Do  you,  my  father, 
in  your  hand  take  the  consecrated  things  and  the  ancestral 
gods?  To  me,  just  returned  from  such  and  so  recent  a 
battle  and  slaughter,  it  were  sacrilege  to  touch  them,  until 
I  shall  have  washed  in  a  living  stream."  f  In  another 
place  the  closing  rites  at  the  funeral  pyre  of  Misenus  are 
thus  described, — ''The  same  (Choriuaeus)  passed  thrice 
around  his  companions  with  water,  sprinkling  them  with  a 
gentle  spray,  and  with  a  branch  of  the  auspicious  olive 
purified  the  men  and  uttered  the  parting  words."  J 

Of  funeral  lustrations  at  Rome,  Adams  in  his  Antiqui- 
ties, gives  this  account:  "When  the  remains  of  the  dead 
were  laid  in  the  tomb,  those  present  were,  three  times, 
sprinkled  by  a  priest  with  pure  water,  from  a  branch  of 
olive  or  laurel,  to  purify  them.  .  .  .  The  friends  when 
they  returned  home,  as  a  further  purification,  after  being 
sprinkled  with  Avater,  stepped  over  a  fire.§  .  .  .  The  house 
itself  also  was  purified  and  swept  with  a  certain  kind  of  a 
broom."  The  classic  writers  frequently  refer  to  similar 
observances  among  the  Greeks.  Thus,  in  Euripides,  the 
people  are  perplexed  as  to  the  death  of  Alcestis,  king 
Admetus'  wife,  because  "  they  do  not  see  the  lustral  water 
before  the  door,  as  is  customary  at  the  doors  of  the  dead."|| 

The  census  of  the  population  of  Rome  was  taken  every 
five  years,  and   was   followed  by  a  lustration   of  the  city. 

*Ovidii  Fast.ii,  v,  673-688.        t  JEn.  ii,  717. 

J  Ibid,  vi,  229.— The  (novissima  verba)  last  or  parting  words, 
were  addressed  to  the  deceased, — **Vale!  Yale!  Yale!"  Fare- 
w^ell!  Farewell!  Farewell! 

§  Compare  above,  p.  138. 

II  Euripides  in  Alcest.  398.  See,  also,  Aristophanes  in  Eccl. 
1025. 


Skc.  XLII.]  IDOLATROUS  IMITATIONS.  187 

From  this  custom  the  word  lustrum  (a  lustration),  came  to 
signify  a  period  of  five  years.  There  was  also  a  lustration 
for  new  born  infants,  when  their  names  were  given.  For 
boys  it  was  usually  on  the  ninth  day  after  birth ;  for  girls, 
by  some,  on  the  eighth  day,  and  by  others,  on  the  fifth,  or 
the  third  day,  while  some  performed  it  on  the  last  day  of 
the  week  wherein  the  child  was  born.  "  On  the  lustral 
day,  a  feast  was  prepared,  over  which  the  goddess  Nundina 
was  supposed  to  preside.  The  assembled  women  handed 
the  child  backward  and  forward  around  the  fire  burning 
on  the  altar  of  the  gods;  after  which  they  sprinkled  it 
with  water,  in  which  Avere  mingled  saliva  and  dust."^^ 

Philo  Judaeus,  was  a  resident  of  the  Greek  colony  of 
Alexandria.  He  was  a  man  of  learning,  and  especially 
versed  in  the  religious  doctrines  and  rites  of  the  Gentiles, 
as  well  as  of  Moses,  of  which  he  wrote  largely.  We  have 
seen  that,  in  contrasting  the  purifying  rites  of  other  nations 
with  those  of  Israel,  he  says  that  "  nearly  all  other  people 
are  sprinkled  with  unmixed  water,  mostly  drawing  it  from 
the  sea,  some  from  rivers  and  others  again  from  vessels 
replenished  from  fountains." f  This  preference  of  the 
water  of  the  sea,  probably  originated  in  a  desire  to  differ- 
entiate the  Gentile  imitations  from  the  divine  originals  as 
observed  by  Israel.  Of  it  an  illustration  appears  in  Eurip- 
ides. Iphigenia  speaks  of  Orestes  and  his  companions, 
defiled  with  dreadful  crimes, —  "First  would  I  {nipsai) 
imbue  tliem  with  holy  purifyings." 

King  Thoas.  "From  springs  of  waters?  '  Or,  from 
spray  of  the  sea?" 

Iphigenia.  "The  sea  spray  QdiizeiX)  washes  away 
all  the  crimes  of  men."§ 

*Rees's  Encyclopedia,  article,  "Lustration." 

t  Above,  p.  175. 

tK/.ivj  (kluzo)  to  besprinkle,  to  water,  to  rinse,  to  dash 
over.  "The  sea,  besprinkling,  washes  away  all  the  crimes 
of  men." 

iphigenia  in  Taur.  1192-1194. 


188  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Part  V. 

The  rites  used  in  the  Greek  mysteries  illustrate  the  same 
subject.  "The  benefits  which  the  initiated  hoped  to  obtain 
were  security  against  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  and  protec- 
tion from  dangers  both  in  this  hfe  and  in  the  life  to  come. 
The  principal  part  of  the  initiation,  and  that  which  was 
thought  to  be  most  efficacious  in  producing  the  desired 
effects,  were  the  lustrations  and  purifications,  whence  the 
mysteries  themselves  are  sometimes  called  katharsia  or 
hatharmoi.^'^ 

Those  of  Eleusis  were  a  manifest  imitation  of  the  Levit- 
ical  feast  of  ingathering  or  tabernacles.  They  were  cele- 
brated at  the  same  season, — immediately  after  the  bringing 
in  of  the  harvest ;  and  w^re  in  honor  of  Demeter,  or  Ceres, 
the  patroness  of  agriculture.  The  celebration  proper,  con- 
tinued for  seven  days,  after  which  there  was  an  additional 
eighth  day,  appropriated  to  the  initiation  of  those  who  had 
been  too  late  for  the  regular  observances.  This,  again, 
was  followed  by  a  ninth  day,  which  was  named  plemochoai, 
from  a  vase  called  plemochoe.  "  Two  of  tliese  vessels  were 
on  this  day  filled  with  water  or  wine,"  (Should  it  not  be 
"water  and  w^ine?")  "and  the  contents  of  one  thrown  to 
the  east,  and  those  of  the  other  to  the  west,  while  those 
who  performed  this  rite  uttered  some  mystical  words."  f 
From  the  appropriating  of  a  ninth  day  to  the  outpouring 
of  the  water  and  wine,  it  seems  probable  that  the  mys- 
teries were  originally  imitated  from  the  Levitical  feast 
before  the  festival  of  the  outpouring  was  instituted;  and 
that  when  the  latter  rite  was  introduced,  an  additional  day 
was  appropriated  to  it,  so  as  to  avoid  any  change  in  what 
had  become  the  established  and  consecrated  order  of  the 
preceding  days. 

These  mysteries  were  of  two  orders.  The  less  were 
celebrated  at  Agrre,  and  were  essential  as  a  preparation 
for  the  greater  at  Eleusis.     In  the  preparatory  rites,  the 

*  Smith's  Dictionary,  article  "Mysteria." 

t  Smith,  arlicle  "  Eleusinia."  Compare  above,  p.  U4. 


Sec.  XLIIL]         IN  EGYPT,  AND  IN  MEXICO.  189 

candidates  were  required  to  keep  themselves  continent  and 
unpolluted  for  nine  days;  and  were  purified  with  water 
sprinkled  on  them,  by  an  officer  who  was  thence  called  the 
hydranos/^  At  Eleusis  they  offered  sacrifices  and  prayers, 
wearing  garlands  of  flowers;  and,  standing  on  the  skin 
of  a  sacrificial  animal,  were  again  purified  by  the  sprinkling 
of  water  by  the  hydranos. 

That  the  observances  thus  illustrated  were  corrupted 
forms  derived  from  the  rites  and  institutions  of  Moses,  is 
apparent.  So  manifest  is  this,  that  in  the  third  and  fourth 
centuries  it  was  made  the  ground  of  a  specious  theory  by 
means  of  which  the  advocates  of  paganism  sought  to  stay 
the  progress  of  Christianity.  "  Among  those  who  Avished 
to  appear  wise,  and  to  take  moderate  ground,  many  were 
induced  to  devise  a  kind  of  reconciling  religion,  interme- 
diate between  the  old  superstition  and  Christianity,  and  to 
imagine  that  Christ  had  enjoined  the  very  same  things 
which  had  long  been  represented  by  the  pagan  priests,  un- 
der the  envelope  of  their  ceremonies  and  fables."  f 

There  was,  no  doubt,  an  element  of  truth  in  this  con- 
ception. The  rites  of  Gentile  idolatry  were,  it  is  evident, 
corrupted  forms  derived  from  divinely  appointed  institu- 
tions, partly,  it  may  be,  by  traditon,  from  the  parents  of 
the  race ;  but  chiefly  by  imitation  of  the  ritual  of  Moses. 

Section  XLIII. — Bcq^tism  in  Egijpt  and  among  the  Aztecs. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  W.  H.  Kyland,  F.  S.  A. 
Secretary  of  the  (British)  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology, 
for  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  4th 
of  May,  1880.  From  it  I  make  the  following  extract  in- 
cluding part  of  a  communication  read  from  ]\I,  Paul  Pierrot. 
It  is  descriptive  of  "the  Libation  Vase  of  Osor-ur,"  pre- 

*'T(^pavog  {hydranos),  a  waterer,  a  sprinkler  with  water;  from 
v(^patvo),  to  water,  to  sprinkle  any  one  with  water,  to  pour  out 
libations." — Liddell  &  Scott's  Greek  Lexicon. 

tMoshoim,  Eccl.  Hist.,  Book  II.,  Part  i,  ?  18. 


190  LATER  TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [Paut  V. 

served  iu  tbe  Museum  of  the  Louvre  (No.  908),  an  inscrip- 
tion on  which  has  been  deciphered  by  M.  Pierret. 

"  The  vase,  of  the  Saitic  epoch,  is  of  bronze,  and  of  an 
oblong  form,  covered  with  an  inscription,  finely  traced  with 
a  pointed  instrument.  The  text  has  been  published,  by 
M.  Pierret  in  the  second  volume  of  his  '  Recueil  d'  Inscrii> 
tions  du  Louvre,'  in  the  eighth  number  of  the  '  Etudes 
Egyptologiques.'  The  goddess,  Nout,  is  represented  stand- 
ing in  her  sycamore,  pouring  the  water  which  is  received 
by  the  deceased,  on  one  side,  and  by  his  soul,  on  the  other. 
'  Saitli  the  Osiris,  divine  father  and  first  prophet  of  Am- 
mon  Osor-ur,  truthful ; — Oh,  Sycamore  of  Nout !  give  me 
the  water  and  the  breath  [of  life]  which  proceed  from 
thee.  That  I  may  have  the  vigor  of  the  goddess  of  vigor : 
that  I  may  have  the  life  of  the  goddess  of  life ;  that  I 
may  breathe  the  breath  of  the  goddess  of  the  respiration 
of  breaths ;  for  I  am  Toum.  Saith  Nout ; — Oh  the  Osiris, 
divine  father,  etc. ,  thou  receivest  the  libation  from  my  own 
hands ;  I,  thy  beneficent  mother,  I  bring  thee  the  vase,  con- 
taining the  abundant  water  for  rejoicing  thy  heart  by  its 
effusion,  that  thou  may  est  breathe  the  breathy  [of  life]  re- 
sulting from  it,  that  thy  flesh  may  live  by  it.  For,  I  give 
water  to  every  mummy ;  I  give  breath  to  him  whose 
throat  is  deprived  of  it,  to  those  whose  body  is  hidden,  to 
those  who  have  no  funeral  chapel.  I  am  with  thee.  I 
reunite  thee  to  thy  soul,  which  will  separate  itself  no  more 
from  thee,  never.'" 

The  Saitic  epoch,  to  which  this  vase  is  referred,  began  with 
the  accession  of  Psammetichus  I,  about  664,  B.  C,  and  closed 
with  the  conquest  of  Egypt  by  Cambyses  in  525.  The 
parallel  period  of  Jewish  history  extends  from  the  closing 
years  of  Manasseh's  reign  to  the  time  of  the  machinations 
by  which  the  decree  of  Cyrus  for  rebuilding^  the  temple 
was  suspended.  But,  although  the  date  thus  given  is  such 
as  might  suggest  the  idea  of  derivation  from  the  institutions 
of  Moses,  it  seems  highly  probable  that  the  inscription 


Sec.  XLIIL]          IN  EGYPT,  AND  IN  MEXICO.  191 

presents  a  vestige,  in  a  greatly  corrupted  form,  of  the 
primitive  faith  touching  the  resurrection,  as  held  by  Noah 
and  the  patriarchs  of  the  old  world,  and  transmitted  to  the 
founders  of  the  Egyptian  empire.  Whatever  the  view 
adopted  on  that  point,  the  relation  of  the  inscription  to  the 
subject  of  the  present  treatise  is  manifest  and  very  inter- 
esting. Not  only  does  it  very  strikingly  illustrate  the  doc- 
trine of  life  to  the  dead,  as  symbolized  by  the  effusion  of 
water,  but  it  brings  together  the  two  symbols  of  water  and 
the  breath  of  life,  in  such  a  manner  as  presents  a  very  re- 
markable analogy  to  the  similar  association  of  ideas  pre- 
sented in  the  scene  of  Pentecost,  as  unfolded  hereafter. 

Very  remarkable  Avas  the  rite  of  infant  baptism,  as  it 
was  found  by  the  Spanish  conquerors  among  the  Aztecs  of 
Mexico.  * 

"  When  everything  necessary  for  the  baptism  had  been 
made  ready,  all  the  relations  of  the  child  were  assembled, 
and  the  midwife,  who  was  the  person  that  performed  the 
rite  of  baptism,  was  summoned.  At  early  dawn,  they  met 
together  in  the  court-yard  of  the  house.  When  the  sun 
had  risen,  the  midwife,  taking  the  child  in  her  arms, 
called  for  a  little  earthen  vessel  of  water,  while  those 
about  her  placed  the  ornaments  which  had  been  prepared 
for  the  baptism  in  the  midst  of  the  court.  To  perform  the 
rite  of  baptism,  she  placed  herself  with  her  face  toward  the 
west,  and  immediately  began  to  go  through  certain  cere- 
monies. .  .  .  After  this  she  sprinkled  water  on  the  head 
of  the  infant,  saying,  '  O,  my  child !  take  and  receive  the 
water  of  the  Lord  of  the  world,  which  is  our  life,  and  is 

*  As  this  work  goes  into  the  hands  of  the  printers,  the  news- 
papers announce  that  "  the  Rev.  Professor  Campbell  of  Mont- 
real has  discovered  that  the  Hittite  and  Aztec  alphabets  are 
identical,  and  by  applying  the  latter  to  the  former,  he  has  been 
enabled  to  read  inscriptions  belonging  to  the  ninth  century  be- 
fore Christ."  Should  this  announcement  prove  true,  it  brings 
the  Aztecs  into  a  relation  to  Israel  which  the  reader  will  at  once 
recognize. 


192  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRINKLING.  [rAUT  V. 

given  for  the  increasing  and  renewing  of  our  body.  It  is 
to  wash  and  to  purify.  I  pray  that  these  heavenly  drops 
may  enter  into  your  body  and  dwell  there  :  that  they  may 
destroy  and  remove  from  you  all  the  evil  and  sin  which 
was  given  you  before  the  beginning  of  the  world ;  since  all 
of  us  are  under  its  power,  being  all  the  children  of  Chal- 
chivitlycue  [the  goddess  of  water].  She  then  washed  the 
body  of  the  child  with  water,  and  spoke  in  this  manner : 
'  Whence  thou  comest,  thou  that  art  hurtful  to  this  child ; 
leave  him  and  depart  from  him,  for  he  now  liveth  anew, 
and  is  born  anew ;  now  is  he  purified  and  cleansed  afresh 
and  our  mother,  Chalchivitlycue,  again  bringeth  him  into 
the  world.'  Having  thus  prayed,  the  midwife  took  the 
child  in  both  hands,  and  lifting  him  toward  heaven,  said, — 
'  O  Lord,  thou  seest  here  thy  creature,  whom  thou  hast 
sent  into  the  world,  this  place  of  sorrow,  suffering,  and  pen- 
itence. Grant  him,  O  Lord,  thy  gifts,  and  thine  inspira- 
tion, for  thou  art  the  great  God,  and  with  thee  is  the' 
great  goddess.'  Torches  of  pine  were  kept  burning  during 
the  performance  of  these  ceremonies.  When  these  things 
were  ended,  they  gave  the  child  the  name  of  some  one  of 
his  ancestors,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  shed  a  new  luster 
over  it.  The  name  was  given  by  the  same  midwife  or 
priestess  who  baptized  him."-!^ 

How  like,  yet  how  different,  the  Grreco-Eoman,  the 
Egyptian,  and  the  Mexican  rites,  from  each  other,  and 
from  those  of  Israel  and  of  Christ,  appears  at  a  glance. 

Section  XLIV. — Tlie  Levitical  Ba'ptkms  in  the  Christian 
Fathers. 

The  writers  of  the  primitive  church  distinctly  recognize 
the  Old  Testament  sprinklings,  and  especially  the  water  of 
separation,  by  the  name  of  baptism.  By  the  same  name, 
they  designate  the  idolatrous  imitations  above  described. 

*Sahagiin.  Hist,  de  Niieva  Espana.  vi,  37.  In  Prescott's 
"  Conquest  of  Mexico."     Vol.  HI,  p.  385. 


Skc.  XLIV.]        ALL  C/S/0.\'S  LV  THE  FA  THE RS.  193 

Tertulliau  was  born  about  fifty  years  after  the  death  of 
the  apostle  John.  In  allusion  to  the  renewing  efficacy 
which  he  attributed  to  Christian  baptism  and  the  futility 
of  the  Gentile  rites,  he  says, — "  The  nations,  strangers  to 
all  understanding  of  true  spiritual  potencies,  ascribe  to 
their  idols  the  self-same  efficacy.  But  they  defraud  them- 
selves with  unwedded  waters;  for  they  are  initiated,  by 
washing,  into  certain  of  their  sacred  mysteries — as  for  ex- 
ample of  Isis,  or  Mithras.  Even  their  gods  themselves 
they  honor  with  lavations.  Moreover,  everywhere,  coun- 
try seats,  houses,  temples  and  whole  cities  are  purified  by 
sprinkling  with  water  carried  around.  So,  it  is  certain 
they  are  imbued  (tinguntur)  in  the  rituals  of  Apollo  and 
Eleusis;  and  they  imagine  this  to  accomplish  for  them 
renewing  and  impunity  for  their  perjuries.  Moreover, 
among  the  ancients,  whoever  was  polluted  with  niurder, 
expiated  himself  with  purifying  waters.  .  .  .  We  see  here 
the'diligcnce  of  the  devil,  emulating  the  things  of  God,  since 
he  even  administers  baptism  to  his  own."'!^ 

Here,  Tertullian  expressly  designates  these  rites  of  the 
Gentile  idolatries  by  the  name  of  baptism,  and  represents 
them  as  imitations  of  the  divinely  appointed  ordinance. 
Some  he  distinctly  describes  as  sprinklings,  and  among 
them  evidently  refers  to  Ovid's  representation  of  the  dis- 
honest mer.chant,  sprinkling  himself  to  wash  out  his  "perju- 
ries." He  does  not  allude  to  immersion,  and  in  fact  that 
form  of  rite  was  not  found  among  the  Greek  and  Koman 
superstitions.  The  only  difference  which  Tertullian  recog- 
nizes between  the  idohitrous  rites  and  Christian  baptism  is 
indicated  by  the  phrase  (viduis  aqim),  "unwedded,"  or 
"  widowed,  waters,"  by  which  he  designates  the  element 
used  in  the  pagan  rites.  His  meaning,  here,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration,  which  already 
prevailed  in  the  church;  according  to  Avhich,  it  was  be- 
lieved that,  in  baptism,  in  response  to  the  invocation  of 

*Tertull.  de  Baptisma,  chapter  v. 
17 


194  LATER   TRACES  OF  SPRIXKLING.  [Pakt  V. 

the  officiating  minister,  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  upon  the 
water,  imparting  to  it  a  divine  jDOteucy  to  produce  a  new 
birth  in  the  recipient  of  the  rite.  Thus,  the  waters  of 
Christian  baptism  were  married  waters,  as  being  capable 
of  generating  life;  whilst  the  others  were  unmarried, — 
unendowed  with  any  *'  spiritual  potency." 

It  is  further  worthy  of  special  notice,  that  Tertullian 
here  refers,  among  other  Gentile  imitations  of  baptism,  to 
that  purgation  for  murder,  by  affusion  of  water,  from  which 
evidently  Josephus  derived  his  preposterous  explanation  of 
the  sprinkling  of  the  water  of  separation,  for  defilement  by 
the  dead.  The  probability  is  great  that  the  Greek  pur- 
gation was  derived  from  that  appointed  for  the  elders  of 
Israel,  in  the  case  of  a  concealed  murder. 

Jerome,  living  between  K.  D.  340  and  420,  comments 
thus  upon  Ezekiel  xxxvi,  25-27. — "I  will  pour  out  or 
sprinkle  (effundam  sive  asj^ergam),  upon  you  clean  water 
and  ye  shall  be  cleansed  from  all  your  defilements.  And 
I  will  give  you  a  new  heart,  and  I  will  put  a  right  spirit 
within  you.  ...  I  will  pour  out  the  clean  water  of  saving 
baptism.  ...  It  is  to  be  observed  that  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit  may  be  given  by  the  pouring  out  or  sprinkling 
of  water."  Again,  he  paraphrases; — "  I  will  no  more  pour 
out  on  them  the  waters  of  saving  baptism,  but  the  waters 
of  doctrine  and  of  the  word  of  God."— Jerome  v,  341. 

Ambrose,  bishop  of  Milan  from  A.  D.  374  to  391,  thus 
expounds  the  7th  verse  of  Psa.  li.— "  He  asks  to  be  cleansed 
ivith  hyssop,  according  to  the  law.  He  desires  to  be  washed 
according  to  the  gospel,  and  trusts  that  if  washed  he  will 
be  whiter  than  snow.  He  who  would  be  purified  by  typi- 
cal baptism  was  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  a  lamb,  by  a 
hyssop  bush."* 

Again  he  says,  "He  (the  priest),  dipping  the  living 
sparrow,  with  cedar,  scarlet  and  hyssop,  into  water  in 
which  had  been  mingled  the  blood  of  the  slain  sparrow, 

*  Ambrosii  Opera,  in  Psa.  li. 


Skc.  xliv.]     allusions  in  the  fathers.  195 

sprinkled  the  leper  seven  times,  and  thus  was  he  rightly 

purified By  the  cedar  wood,  the  Father,  by  the 

hyssop  the  Sou,  and  by  the  scarlet  wool,  having  the  bright- 
ness of  fire,  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  designated.  With  these 
three,  he  was  sprinkled  who  would  be  rightly  purified,  be- 
cause no  one  can  be  cleansed  from  the  leprosy  of  sins,  by 
the  water  of  baptism,  except  through  m vocation  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  We  are 
represented  by  the  leper."  * 

V  Again,  addressing  the  newly  baptized,  he  says, — "  You 
took  the  white  garments,  to  indicate  that  you  cast  away 
the  cloak  of  sin  and  put  on  the  spotless  robe  of  innocence ; 
whereof  the  prophet  said :  '  Thou  shalt  sprinkle  me  with 
hyssop  and  I  shall  be  clean,  thou  shalt  wash  me,  and  I 
shall  be  made  whiter  than  snow.'  For  he  that  is  baptized 
appears  cleansed  both  according  to  the  law  and  the  gospel ; 
according  to  the  law,  since  Moses,  with  a  bunch  of  hyssop 
sprinkled  the  blood  of  a  bird ;  according  to  the  gospel,  be- 
cause the  garments  of  Christ  were  white  as  snow,  when, 
in  the  gospel,  he  showed  the  glory  of  his  resurrection.  He 
whose  sins  are  forgiven  is  made  whiter  than  snow."t 

Cyril  lived  in  the  n^xt  century.  He  was  bishop  of 
Alexandria,  A.  D.  412-444.  In  his  exposition  of  Isaiah 
iv,  4,  he  says,  ''  We  have  been  baptized,  not  with  bare 
water,  nor  with  the  ashes  of  a  heifer, — We  are  sprinkled 
[with  these]  to  purify  the  flesh,  alone,  as  says  the  blessed 
Paul,— but  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  fire." 

Thus,  from  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  into 
Greek  down  through  the  time  of  Christ  and  the  apostles, 
and  to  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  the  Levitical  sprink- 
lings were  known  and  designated  as  baptisms.  Further 
we  need  not  trace  them. 


*  Ibid.,  in  Apocal.  cap.  6. 

t  Ibid.     Lit.  ad  initiandos.    c,  7. 


196  STATE  OF  THE  ARGUMENT,  [Part  VI. 


Part  VI. 

STATE  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT  ARGUMENT. 

Section  XLV. — Points  established  by  the  foregoing  Evidence. 

A  REVIEW  of  the  preceding  pages  will  discover  the 
following  points  to  have  been  established. 

1.  Baptism  was  a  rite  familiar  among  the  Jews  at  the 
time  of  Christ's  coming,  and  not  a  new  institution  then 
first  introduced. 

2.  Paul  being  witness,  it  was  an  ordinance  imposed  on 
Israel  at  Sinai,  as  part  of  the  Levitical  system. 

3.  There  is  no  trace,  in  the  Levitical  law,  of  an  ordi- 
nance for  the  immersion  of  the  person,  in  any  circum- 
stances, or  for  any  purpose  whatever. 

4.  There  is  not,  anywhere,  in  the  Old  Testament  an 
allusion  to  immersion  as  a  symbolic  rite,  nor  a  figure  de- 
rived from  it,  although  those  Scriptures  are  full  of  allusions 
and  figures  referring  to  the  symbolic  import  of  the  pouring 
and  sprinkling  of  water. 

5.  There  was  an  ordinance  for  the  immersion  of  cer- 
tain things  very  slightly  defiled ;  wiiich  at  once  illustrates 
the  ritual  value  of  immersion  as  compared  with  sprinkling, 
and  the  plainness  of  the  language  where  immersion  was 
meant. 

6.  The  baptisms,  therefore,  to  which  Paul  refers  as 
having  been  "imposed  on"  Israel,  could  not  have  been 
immersions,  and  the  word,  baptizo,  did  not  in  his  vocabu- 
lary mean,  to  immerse. 

7.  The  only  institutions  to  which  he  can  have  referred 
are  comprehended  under  the  two  heads  of,  administered 
rites,  and  self-performed  washings. 


Sec.  XLV.]         POINTS  SO  FAR  ESTABLISHED.  197 

8.  The  self-washings  were  not  sacraments,  or  seals  of 
the  covenant,  but  monitory  symbols  of  duty, 

9.  The  gradation  of  these  washings,  the  frequency  and 
circumstances  of  their  observance,  and  the  limited  iacilities 
available,  render  it  impossible  that  they  can  have  been 
immersions. 

10.  Their  symbolic  significance,  the  words  used  to  de- 
scribe them,  the  customs  as  to  ablutions,  and  the  washings 
of  the  priests  in  the  court  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of  the 
high  priest  in  the  holy  place,  concur  to  demonstrate  that 
they  were  ablutions  performed  by  affusion. 

11.  The  administered  rites  were  sacramental  seals  of 
the  covenant.  They  were  essentially  one  in  meaning,  office, 
and  form ;  and  were  invariably  performed  with  a  hyssop 
bush,  by  an  official  administrator,  sprinkling  the  recipient 
with  living  w^ater,  in  which  was  the  blood  or  ashes  of 
sacrifice. 

12.  In  the  Hellenistic  Greek,  the  language  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  the  Apocrypha,  and  the  New  Testament,  these 
jDurifications  by  sprinkling  were  called  baptisms,  and  they 
were  known  and  designated  by  that  name  by  the  primitive 
fathers  of  the  Christian  church. 

13.  These  sprinklings  of  the  law  were  the  "divers 
baptisms"  of  Paul.  So  far,  therefore,  from  haptizo  meaning 
to  dip,  cr,  to  immerse,  and  nothing  else,  it  is  an  indisputa- 
ble fact  that  for  at  least  fifteen  hundred  years  after  the 
first  institution  of  the  rite,  baptism  was  always  performed 
by  sprinkling. 

14.  The  ordinance  was  first  instituted  to  seal  the  cov- 
enant by  which  the  church  of  God  was  founded  in  Israel; 
and  that  form  of  it  in  which  the  ashes  of  the  red  heifer 
were  used  was  divinely  appointed  as  the  ordinary  rite  for 
the  reception  of  applicants  to  the  privileges  of  that  cove- 
nant and  church. 

15.  Its  symbolism  set  forth  all  that  is  recognized  in 
the  Scriptures  as  meant  by  Christian  baptism.     Especially 


198  STATE  OF  THE  ARGUMENT.  [Part  VI. 

aud  distinctively  was  it  the  sacrament  of  the  purification, 
or  remission  of  sins. 

16.  The  figure  presented  in  the  form  of  sprinkling  or 
pouring  is  derived  from  the  rain  descending  out  of  heaven, 
penetrating  the  earth  and  making  it  fruitful;  and  it  signi- 
fies the  Spirit  of  life  from  God  imparted  to  the  dead,  en- 
tering the  heart,  purging  its  corruption,  and  creating  new 
life.  To  the  case  of  indwelling  corruption,  with  reference 
to  which  this  rite  was  aj^pointed,  no  external  washing,  such 
as  immersion  is  supposed  to  represent,  can  be  of  any  avail. 

17.  Afl^usion  is  the  constant  form  of  action  in  the  rit- 
ual law,  whether  with  water,  blood,  or  oil,  to  signify  the 
efficient  agency  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  all  the  functions  of 
administration  in  his  mediatorial  office. 

18.  The  recipients  of  the  Levitical  baptism,  were,  at 
its  first  institution,  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel,  old 
and  young,  thus  purified  from  the  defilements  of  Egypt, 
sealed  unto  the  covenant  of  God,  and  installed  as  his 
church.  Afterward,  they  were  all,  without  distinction  of 
sex,  age,  or  nation,  who  having  been  suspended  for  any 
cause  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of  Israel,  sought 
in  the  appointed  way  restoration;  or  who  were  received 
into  it,  as  infants  or  proselytes. 

19.  While  this  rite  was  the  door  of  admission  to  the 
privileges  of  the  covenant,  at  Sinai,  and  so  long  as  the 
Levitical  system  survived,  it  is  appropriated  by  the  Spirit, 
as  the  chosen  figure  by  which  is  set  forth,  in  prophecy,  the 
bestowal  of  the  grace  of  Christ  upon  the  Gentiles,  in  the 
gospel  day,  and  upon  Israel,  restored.  "So  shall  he 
sprinkle  many  nations."  "Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean 
water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean." 

20.  The  figures  of  speech  corresponding  to  the  forms 
of  sprinkling  and  pouring  appear  everywhere  in  the  Old 
Testament.  Pervading  and  determining  the  entire  struc- 
ture or'the  ritual  law,  they  reappear  continually,  in  the 
historical  records,  in  the  devotional  and  penitent  utterances 


Sec.  XLV.]         POINTS  SO  FAR  ESTABLISHED.  199 

of  the  Psalmist,  the  discourses  of  the  Preacher,  and  the 
expostulatioDS  and  warnings  of  the  prophets,  and  in  their 
glad  anticipations  of  the  grace  of  the  coming  Messiah. 
With  one  and  the  same  spiritual  meaning  everywhere, 
these  figures  pervade  and  control  the  whole  texture  of 
thought  and  mode  of  expression  of  the  sacred  writers. 

21.  This  rite  of  purification  by  sprinkling  was  not  only 
thus  familiar  to  Israel,  but,  under  corrupted  forms,  it  had 
been  disseminated  throughout  the  civilized  world;  so  that 
when  the  apostles  went  forth  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the 
nations,  the  ideas  of  sin  and  guilt,  defilement  and  cleansing, 
thus  nourished,  were  a  very  important  element  in  the  prov- 
idential preparation  of  the  world  to  appreciate  and  accept 
the  salvation  of  Christ.  While  such  was  the  case,  the  fact 
is  equally  significant  that  among  the  nations  contiguous  to 
Israel  there  is  no  trace  of  ritual  purification  by  immer- 
sion,— a  form  of  observance  which,  had  it  existed  in 
Israel,  could  not  have  failed  of  imitation  by  her  idolatrous 
neighbors. 

Thus  assiduously  and  multifariously  were  the  people  of 
Israel  taught,  and  trained — by  instructions,  by  warnings, 
by  promises,  by  rites  and  ceremonies,  enjoined  and  observed 
at  the  sanctuary  and  at  home,  which  laid  hold  upon  them 
in  every  relation  of  their  being  and  every  function  of  their 
lives — to  conceive  of  themselves  in  all  their  sinfulness  and 
need,  and  of  the  coming  Messiah  in  his  oflSces  of  grace,  in 
the  light  of  this  ordinance,  and  according  to  the  similitude 
embodied  in  it.  For  fifteen  centuries  these  influences 
were  continually  at  work,  until  the  very  bent  and  tendency 
of  their  thoughts  and  conceptions,  in  so  far  as  they  yielded 
themselves  to  the  divine  agencies  thus  applied,  were 
moulded  to  the  forms  of  those  rites. 

In  view  of  the  facts  thus  developed,  two  questions  pre- 
sent themselves  for  thoughtful  consideration  as  we  proceed 
with  our  inquiry.  (1.)  Is  it  to  be  imagined  that  John  and 
Jesus,  in  coming  to  fulfill  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 


200 


STATE  OF  THE  ARGUMENT. 


Part  VI. 


ment,  which  were  embodied  in  sprinkled  baptism,  would 
ignore  that  ordinance,  and  silently  substitute  in  its  place 
the  rite  of  immersion ;  thus  bringing  to  naught  and  repu- 
diating the  products  of  the  divine  discipline  so  assiduously 
pursued  through  all  those  centuries,  and  dissolving  every 
tie  of  association  between  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  the 
hopes  and  expectations  which  the  saints  had  been  taught 
to  cherish,  by  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the  law,  the 
prophets,  and  the  Psalms,  all  speaking  in  the  language  of 
the  repudiated  rite?  (2.)  Since  the  name  of  baptism,  was, 
beyond  question  the  designation  used  for  the  Levitical 
sprinklings,  how  else  can  we  understand  John,  Christ,  and 
the  apostles,  than  as  meaning  the  same  thing,  in  the  similar 
use  which  they  make  of  the  same  word? 


The  Greek  Bath.— From  Sir.  Wm.  Hamilton's 
in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Koman 
Antiquities ;  article  "J?a?KeoE." 


Book  II. 
NEW  TESTAMENT  HISTORY. 

Part  VII. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Section  XL VI. — State  of  ilw  Question. 

BEFORE  entering  upon  an  examination  of  the  New 
Testament,  it  will  be  well  to  notice  distinctly  what,  at 
this  stage  of  our  inquiry,  is  the  precise  state  of  the  ques- 
tion to  which  our  attention  is  directed.  In  a  word,  two 
rites  present  themselves,  each  claiming  to  be  the  true  and 
legitimate  ordinance  which  Christ  commanded  to  be  dis- 
pensed to  all  nations. 

On  the  one  hand  is  the  ritual  sprinkling  of  water.  In 
this  rite,  we  have  an  ordinance  instituted  at  Sinai  by  di- 
ving command,  with  specific  directions  as  to  the  mode  of 
observance,  and  abundant  exemplification  in  the  history 
of  Israel  and  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament, — an  ordi- 
nance by  which  the  tribes  of  Israel  and  the  Gentile  chil- 
dren of  Midian  were  both  alike  received  and  sealed  unto 
the  covenant  of  God, — its  rites  replete  with  the  richest  gos- 
pel meaning,  as  expounded  by  poets  and  prophets,  and 
constituting  in  connection  with  the  Lord's  supper,  a  clear 
and  symmetrical  representation  of  the  whole  plan  of  grace. 
In  this  ordinance,  the  sprinkling  of  water  for  the  ritual 
purging  of  sin,  is  a  lucid  symbol  of  the  very  baptizing 
office  which  is  now  fulfilled  from  the  throne  of  heaven  by 
Him  whom  John  fore-announced  as  the  Baptizer  with  the 
Holy  Ghost.  That  the  doctrine  which  the  New  Testament 
identifies  with  Christian   baptism   was  symbolized  by  the 


202  NE  W  TESTAMENT  INTR OD  UCTOR  Y.     [Part  VII. 

ordinance,  in  its  Old  Testament  form,  can  not  be  success- 
fully questioned  ;  nor  that  there  was  a  beautiful  symmetry, 
congruity  and  significance  in  each  several  part  and  feature 
of  the  observance.  It  thus  stands  forth,  luminous  with 
most  precious  gospel  truth.  Appointed  of  God  at  Sinai,  as 
the  most  fitting  form  under  which  to  figure  the  first  act  of 
His  grace,  in  the  bestowal  of  salvation  on  sinners, — honored 
as  the  rite  by  which  the  church  was  at  the  beginning  con- 
secrated to  her  exalted  ofiice,  as  God's  witness  and  herald 
to  the  nations, — it  comes  to  the  New  Testament  church, 
hoary  and  venerable  with  a  history  of  fifteen  centuries, — 
embalmed  and  hallowed  by  commemoration  in  the  poetic 
strains  of  the  psalmist  and  the  brightest  visions  of  the 
prophets,  and  fragrant  from  association  with  the  profound- 
est  and  most  precious  experiences  of  God's  people,  in  all 
those  centuries,  and  with  every  beam  of  hope  for  a  better 
life  beyond,  which  shone  into  their  stricken  hearts,  in  the 
times  of  bereavement  and  mourning.  It  comes,  its  image 
indelibly  stamped  on  the  face  of  God's  word,  and  its  con- 
ceptions therein  transmitted  to  blend  with  the  clearer  visions 
of  hope  revealed  to  the  gospel  church,  by  Him,  in  whom 
life  and  immortality  are  brought  to  light. 

On  the  other  hand  is  that  form  of  observance  in  which 
the  person  of  the  subject  is  immersed  in  water,  as  a  sym- 
bol of  the  burial  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  For  this  rite,  no 
higher  antiquity  is  claimed,  by  its  advocates,  than  that  in- 
volved in  its  supposed  institution  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  after 
his  resurrection.  It  has  no  precedent  in  the  Levitical  rit- 
ual, nor  place  among  the  figures  employed  by  the  Old  Tes- 
tament writers.'  The  prophets  did  not  foreshadow  it  in 
their  imagery,  nor  the  psalmist  in  his  strains.  All  other 
rites  of  divine  authority,  are  distinctly  described,  both  as  to 
office  and  form.  But,  of  the  rite  of  immersion,  there  is 
neither  description  nor  explanation  anywhere  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. Its  evidence  stands  wholly  in  definitions,  contrary 
to  the  unanimous  testimony  of  lexicographers,  unsustained 


Sec.  XLVI.]  STATE  OF  THE  QUESTION.  203 

by  any  broad  inductions  from  the  facts  and  analogy  of 
Scripture,  and  at  variance  with  the  conclusions  which  such 
induction  demands. 

And  when  we  examine  the  relations  and  details  of  the 
rite,  we  find  incongruity  and  contradiction  conspicuously 
displayed.  If  the  rite  be  regarded  as  a  typical  seal  of  the 
covenant  of  grace,  as  are  all  sacraments,  it  follows  that 
tlie  administrator  represents  the  Lord  Jesus,  administering 
the  true  baptism,  the  real  seal  of  that  covenant.  But,  if 
ba])tism  is  by  immersion,  to  represent  the  burial  of  the 
body  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  we  are  reduced  to  the  alternative 
that  the  office  of  the  administrator  means  nothing,  in  which 
case  we  have  a  burial  with  no  one  to  perform  it ; — or,  that 
he  represents  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  Nicodemus;  by 
whom  the  body  of  Jesus  was  laid  in  the  sepulcher. 

Again,  in  the  Scriptures  everywhere,  and  esjDecially, 
and  in  the  most  express  terms,  by  the  Lord  Jesus  himself 
(John  iv,  14;  vii,  37-39),  living  water  is  recognized  as  the 
divinely  appointed  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  Spirit 
of  quickening  and  life.  How  beautifully  and  richly  appro- 
priate to  this  purpose  it  is,  we  have  seen.  But,  according 
to  the  immersion  theory,  the  dipping  of  the  person  in  this 
element, — that  is,  mersion  in  water  of  life,  represents  the 
consigning  of  the  body  of  Jesus  to  the  grave,  the  den  of 
corruption  and  death ! 

Besides,  the  supposed  resemblance  of  this  rite  to  the 
burial  of  Christ's  body  is  a  transparent  misconception.  It 
results  from  the  transfer  to  Palestine  of  ideas  derived  from 
the  wholly  different  western  method  of  interment.  In  the 
sense  required  by  immersion,  Jesus  never  was  "buried." 
The  sepulcher  of  Joseph,  in  which  his  body  was  laid  was 
not  a  grave,  but  a  spacious  above-ground  chamber.  Such 
were  its  dimensions  that,  at  one  time,  on  the  morning  of 
the  resurrection,  there  were  present  in  it  "Mary  Magda- 
lene and  Joanna  and  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and  other 
women,"  at  least  five  or  six  persons,   and   with  them   the 


204  NE  W  TESTAMENT  INTR OD  UCTOR  Y.     [Part  VII. 

two  angels  before  whom  they  fell  prostrate.  (Luke  xxiv, 
1-10.)  To  this  day,  the  hillsides  around  Jerusalem  and 
throughout  Palestine  are  pierced  with  innumerable  such 
chambers,  excavated  horizontally  in  the  rock,  and  frequently 
used  as  dwellings  by  the  present  inhabitants.  Such  was 
the  sepulcher  of  Jesus, — an  artificial  chamber  with  a  per- 
pendicular door,  so  that  Peter  and  John  and  the  women 
could  by  stooping  walk  into  it. — John  xx,  5-8.  The  entomb- 
ing of  Jesus  was  no  more  a  burial,  in  the  sense  required 
by  the  immersion  theory,  than  was  the  laying  of  the  body 
of  Dorcas  in  an  upper  chamber.  (Acts  ix,  37.)  The  sup- 
posed similitude  of  immersion  in  water  is  a  figment  of  the 
imagination,  in  entire  disregard  of  the  real  facts. 

But,  even  should  we  allow  the  ordinance  to  be  a  true 
and  fitting  symbol  of  the  burial  of  Christ,  it  remains  void 
of  all  spiritual  significance.  Study  it  as  we  may,  it  teaches 
nothing, — it  means  nothing.  In  all  other  sacraments  the 
plan  of  salvation,  in  one  or  other  of  its  grand  features,  is 
lucidly  represented.  The  Lord's  supper  is  the  acknowledged 
symbol  of  Christ's  atonement  and  death,  and  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  imparts  to  his  people  the  benefits  of  that 
death, — while  they  by  faith  feed  upon  his  broken  body. 
According  to  the  immersion  theory,  baptism  represents  and 
shows  forth  the  burial  of  the  dead  body  of  Jesus,  contra- 
distinguished from  his  death,  as  symbolized  in  the  Lord's 
supper.  But  that  burial  is  a  thing  wholly  unimportant 
and  insignificant,  in  itself,  whether  viewed  as  to  the  fact  or 
the  mode.  No  emphasis  is  ever  in  the  Scriptures  put  upon 
either,  nor  spiritual  meaning  attributed  to  them.  Thus,  if  we 
admit  immersion  to  a  place  among  the  ordinances,  it  must 
remain  a  mere  form,  shedding  no  ray  of  divine  light, — an 
opaque  spot  among  the  luminaries  in  the  instructive  con- 
stellation of  Scripture  rites.  The  result  moreover  of  accept- 
ing this  ordinance  is,  to  strip  the  New  Testament  church 
of  all  sacramental  knowledge  of  the  power  and  glory  of 
Christ's   triumphant   sceptre.     In  Levitical  baptism,   the 


Skc.  XLVI.]  STATE  OF  THE  QUESTION.  205 

Old  Testament  church  had  a  most  beautiful  pledge  of 
his  triumph  over  death  aud  a  symbol  of  his  grace  shed 
down  from  the  throne  of  his  glory.  But,  upon  the  immer- 
sion theory,  all  this  is  utterly  ignored  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ritual,  aud  all  attention  directed  to  the  humiliation, 
sufferings  and  death, — one  sacrament  setting  forth  his 
death,  and  the  other  his  burial;  whilst  both  are  left  void 
of  meaning ;  since  the  intent  of  the  abasement  can  only  be 
found  in  his  exaltation,  and  the  baptizing  office  exercised 
from  his  throne.  We  are  to  believe  that  at  the  very 
moment  when  his  exaltation  became  a  glorious  reality, 
and  his  baptizing  office  an  active  function,  and  when  these 
facts  had  become  the  very  crown  and  sum  of  the  gospel 
thereupon  sent  forth  to  the  world,  all  trace  of  them  was 
obliterated  from  the  sacramental  system,  to  the  marring  of 
its  symmetry  and  the  utter  destruction  of  its  completeness 
and  adequacy  as  a  symbolical  gospel. 

Moreover,  it  is  the  office  of  the  rite  of  baptism,  to  seal 
admission  to  the  benefits  of  the  covenant,  in  the  bosom  of 
the  visible  church.  Appropriate  to  this  office,  the  Old 
Testament  rite  was  a  symbol  of  that  renewing  and  cleans- 
ing which  the  Lord  Jesus  by  his  Spirit  gives,  in  the  be- 
stowal upon  his  people  of  the  benefits  of  the  better  covenant, 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  invisible  church.  The  same  im- 
port is  attributed  to  baptism  throughout  the  New  Testa- 
ment. But  in  the  rite  of  immersion,  as  symbolizing  the 
burial  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  not  only  is  this  meaning  excluded, 
but  the  ordinance  has  no  conceivable  congruity  to  the  office 
which  it  fills.  Dr.  Carson  attempts  to  evade  this  difficulty 
by  the  assumption  that  there  are  two  distinct  emblems  in 
baptism, — one,  of  purification  by  washing;  another  of 
death,  burial  and  resurrection,  by  immersion.*  Then,  we 
are  to  understand  that  in  baptism,  the  administrator  repre- 
sents at  once,  the  men  by  whom  the  body  of  Jesus  was  laid 
in  the  sepulchre,  aud  the  Lord  Jesus  himself,  dispensing 

*  Carson  on  Baptism,  pp.  2G5-268. 


206  NE IV  TESTAMENT  INTR OD  UCTOR  V.    [Paut  VII. 

the  baptism  of  his  Spirit !  The  water  symbolizes  both  the 
grave  which  is  the  abode  of  death  and  corruption,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  life !  And  the  immersion  of  the  person  of 
the  baptized  represents  at  one  and  the  same  time,  the 
placing  of  the  body  in  the  grave,  and  the  bestowal  of  his 
Spirit  by  Jesus,  for  quickening  and  sanctifying  his  peo- 
ple !  Manifestly,  the  two  sets  of  ideas  thus  brought  to- 
gether, as  involved  and  represented  in  the  one  form,  are 
wholly  irreconcilable.  They  are  not  merely  incongruous, 
but  mutually  destructive.  To  assert  water,  in  one  and  the 
same  act,  to  signify  the  Spirit  of  life,  and  the  corruption 
of  the  grave ;  or  an  immersion  to  symbolize,  at  once,  the 
burial  of  the  dead  body,  and  the  quickening  of  dead 
souls,  is  to  deny  it  to  have  any  meaning  at  all.  The  rite 
may  be  labelled  with  these  incongruous  ideas.  But  they  can 
not  be  made  to  cohere  in  it.  The  theory  ignores  and  con- 
tradicts the  true  nature  of  the  rites  of  God's  appointment; 
which  are  not  mere  mnemonical  tokens,  but  representa- 
tive figures,  ordained  as  testimonies,  which  convey  intelligible 
expression  of  their  meaning  by  their  forms ;  and  are  there- 
fore constructed  upon  fixed  and  invariable  principles,  and 
characterized  by  definiteness  and  unity  of  meaning. 

Are  these  difficulties  evaded  by  falling  back  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  first  Baptist  confession, — that  baptism  "  being 
a  sign,  must  answer  the  thing  signified,  which  is,  the 
interest  the  saints  have  in  the  death,  burial  and  resurrection 
of  Christ ;  and  that  as  certainly  as  the  body  is  buried  un- 
der the  water  and  risen  again,  so  certainly  shall  the  bodies 
of  the  saints  be  raised  by  the  power  of  Christ,  in  the  day 
of  the  resurrection  ?"  This  is,  to  abandon  the  very  citadel 
of  the  cause,  which  consists  in  the  position  that  the  form 
and  meaning  of  the  ordinance  are  to  be  determined  by  a 
strict  interpretation  of  the  classic  meaning  of  the  w^ord 
baptizo.  That  word  never  means  "burial  and  resurrec- 
tion,"— the  immersion  and  raising  up  of  the  subject.  It 
sometimes  means  a  submersion;    that,   and  nothing  more. 


Sec.  XLVI.] 


STATE  OF  THE  QUESTION. 


207 


This  is  now  distinctly  admitted  by  the  ablest  representatives 
of  the  immersion  theory,  as  we  shall  see  abundantly 
evinced  before  we  close. 

Such  are  some  of  the  considerations  that  present  them- 
selves, as,  at  this  point  in  our  inquiry,  we  view  the  two 
diverse  rites  which  assume  the  name  of  Christian  baptism. 
Their  claims  are  now  to  be  judged,  by  a  comparison  of  the 
New  Testament  evidence,  with  what  has  been  already  con- 
centrated from  the  law,  the  prophets,  and  the  Psalms; — 
writings  all  of  them  equally  authoritative  and  divine. 


TheGkeekBath.— Thegod,Eros,preside8.  From 
Sir.  Wm.  Hamilton's  vases,  in  Smitli's  Dictionary 
of  Greek  and  Eomaa  Anticiuities ;  articlo"ifui?iece." 


208  PURIFYINGS  OF  THE  JEWS,  [Part  Vill. 


Part  VIII. 

THE  PURIFYIlSrGS  OF  THE  JEWS. 

Section  XL VII. — Accounts  of  them  in  the  Gospels. 

THE  fact  has  been  referred  to  already  tliat  at  the  great 
passover,  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah,  to  which  the  rem- 
nant of  the  ten  tribes  were  invited  by  the  king,  *'a  multi- 
tude of  the  people,  even  many  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh, 
Issachar  and  Zebulun,  had  not  cleansed  themselves,  yet 
did  they  eat  the  passover  otherwise  than  it  was  written," 
not  being  "cleansed  according  to  the  purification  of  the 
sanctuary;"  that,  thereupon,  a  plague  was  sent  among 
them ;  but  at  the  intercession  of  the  king,  the  Lord  healed 
the  people.  (2  Chron.  xxx,  17-20.)  In  the  law,  it  appears 
that,  at  the  entreaty  of  certain  persons,  who,  at  the  regu- 
lar time  of  the  passover,  were  defiled  by  a  dead  body,  pro- 
vision was  made  for  a  second  passover,  to  be  kept  a  month 
later,  by  such  as,  by  reason  of  defilement,  or  absence  at  a 
great  distance,  could  not  keep  it  at  the  appointed  time. 
(Num.  ix,  6-11.)  These  facts  illustrate  the  statement  of 
John  respecting  a  certain  occasion  when  the  "passover 
was  nigh  at  hand;  and  many  went  out  of  the  country  up 
to  Jerusalem  before  the  passover,  to  purify  themselves." — 
John  xi,  55.  The  self- washings  could  all  be  performed  by 
the  people  at  home.  But,  in  the  later  period  of  Jewish 
history,  the  ashes  were  kept  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  sprink- 
ling of  the  unclean  usually  performed  there  by  the  priests 
aloue.  Hence,  the  coming  of  these  Jews  to  Jerusalem  for 
purifying  before  the  feast.  It  is  thus  evident  that  at  all 
the  annual  feasts,  the  preparatory  purifying  of  the  people 
must  have  been  a  very  conspicuous  feature  of  the  occasion, 


Src.  xlvil]      accounts  in  the  gospels.  209 

a  fact  of  no  little  significance,  as  bearing  upon  the  observ- 
ances in  the  Eleusinian  mysteries,  already  referred  to. 

We  have  shown  the  name  of  baptism  to  have  been 
used  to  designate  both  the  Levitical  rite  of  sprinkling 
with  the  water  of  separation  and  the  ritual  purifyiugs 
invented  by  the  scribes.  With  the  growth  of  ritualistic 
zeal,  the  occasions  for  the  latter  observances  were  multi- 
plied. The  earliest  allusion  to  them,  in  the  life  of  our 
Savior,  appears  in  connection  with  his  first  miracle,  wrought 
in  Cana  of  Galilee  at  the  marriage  feast.  "There  were 
set  there  six  water  pots  of  stone,  after  the  manner  of  the 
purifying  of  the  Jews,  containing  two  or  three  firkins 
apiece." — John  ii,  6.  That  this  provision  for  the  purposes 
of  ritual  purifying  upon  such  an  occasion  was  absolutely 
necessary,  in  obedience  to  the  traditions  of  the  scribes, 
will  presently  appear. 

The  next  occasion  on  which  these  rites  come  into  notice, 
is  recorded  by  Luke.  In  the  course  of  our  Lord's  second 
tour  through  Galilee,  after  having  preached  the  gospel  to 
a  vast  concourse,  "a  certain  Pharisee  besought  him  to  dine 
with  him:  and  he  went  in,  and  sat  down  to  meat.  And 
when  the  Pharisee  saw  it,  he  marveled  that  he  had  not 
first  baptized  {ebaptisthe) ,  before  dinner.  And  the  Lord 
said  unto  hiin,  Now  do  ye  Pharisees  make  clean  the  out- 
side of  the  cup  and  the  platter;  but  your  inward  part  is 
full  of  ravening  and  wickedness.  Ye  fools,  did  not  he  that 
made  that  which  is  without  make  that  which  is  within 
also?  But  rather  give  alms  of  such  things  as  ye  have; 
and  behold  all  things  are  clean  unto  you." — Luke  xi, 
37-41. 

The  next  incident  is  mentioned  very  briefly  by  Matthew 
(xv,  1-9),  and  more  fully  in  Mark.  The  apprehensions 
of  the  rulers  at  Jerusalem  seem  to  have  been  aroused  by 
reports  of  Christ's  ministry,  and  the  excitement  caused  by 
it  among  the  people  of  Galilee.    And  as  they  had  formerly 

sent   messengers  to  challenge  John,  so,  now,  scribes  and 

]8 


210  PURIFV/NGS  OF  THE   JEWS.  [Paut  VIII. 

Pharisees  from  Jerusalem  were  on  the  watch  to  find  occa- 
sion against  Jesus.  And  "when  they  saw  some  of  his 
disciples  eat  bread  with  defiled,  that  is  to  say,  with  un- 
washen  hands,  they  found  fault.  For  the  Pharisees  and 
all  the  Jews,  except  they  wash  their  hands  oft,  eat  not, 
holding  the  tradition  of  the  elders.  And  when  they  come 
from  the  market,  except  they  baptize  (ean  me  baptisontai) , 
they  eat  not,  and  many  other  things  there  be  which  they 
have  received  to  hold,  as  the  baptisms  (baptismous) ,  of  cups 
and  pots,  brazen  vessels  and  tables"  (or  "beds."  So  the 
margin  and  the  Greek.) — Mark  vii,  1-4. 

These  are  the  only  places  in  which  the  ritual  purifyings 
of  the  Pharisees  are  so  mentioned  as  to  shed  light  upon 
the  subject  of  our  inquiry.  In  them,  we  trace  three  dis- 
tinct observances.  These  are  enumerated  by  Mark,  Avho 
represents  them  as  common  to  "the  Pharisees  and  all  the 
Jews."  They  are,  (1)  Washing  the  hands,  before  meals; 
(2)  Baptism,  after  coming  from  the  markets;  (3)  The 
baptisms  of  utensils  and  furniture. 

Section  XL VIII.  —  Washing  the  Hands  before  Meals, 

It  appears  to  have  been  a  custom,  enjoined  by  tradi- 
tion and  observed  by  all  the  Jews,  always  to  wash  the 
hands  ritually  before  eating.  The  origin  and  meaning  of 
the  tradition  may  probably  be  inferred  from  a  few  Scrip- 
tural fiicts.  (1.)  Flesh  was  used  for  sacrifice,  before  it 
was  given  to  man  for  food.  Compare  Gen.  i,  29;  iv,  4; 
viii,  20;  ix,  3.  It  was  thus  transferred  from  the  altar  to 
the  table.  (2.)  One  essential  idea  in  the  Levitical  system 
as  to  sacrifice,  was  communion  of  Israel  with  God  at  his 
table.  Of  this,  the  passover  was  but  one  among  many 
illustrations  which  the  books  of  Moses  contain.  (Deut. 
xii,  17,  18,  27,  etc.)  (3.)  Hence,  all  eating  of  flesh  was 
treated  as  sacrificial  in  its  nature,  and,  therefore,  the  pro- 
hibition of  blood — a  prohibition  perpetuated  in  the  church 
by  the  apostles.     (Gen.  ix,  4;  Lev.  xvii,  3-14;  Deut.  xii, 


Skc.  XLVIIL]  WASHING   THE  HANDS.  211 

20-27;  Acts  xv,  20,  29.*)  If,  to  these  facts  be  added 
the  rule  which  required  the  priests  to  wash  themselves 
before  entering  upou  their  official  duties,  one  of  which  was 
the  eating  of  the  sacrificial  flesh  in  the  holy  j^lace,  and  the 
words  of  the  Psalmist, — *'I  will  wash  mine  hands  in  inno- 
cency,  so  will  I  compass  thine  altar,  O  Lord"  (Psa.  xxvi, 
6),  we  will  have  the  probable  foundation  of  the  ritualistic 
structure. 

As  to  the  mode  of  these  washings,  the  rules  given  in 
the  ritual  law  are  very  significant.  But  two  cases  in  which 
the  washing  of  tlie  hands  w'as  required  are  there  found. 
One  of  these  is  the  washing  of  the  hands  of  the  elders  in 
expiation  of  a  concealed  murder.  (Deut.  xxi,  3-9.)  Here 
the  circumstances  render  it  certain  that  the  water  was 
poured  on  the  hands.  The  other  is  mentioned  in  Lev.  xv, 
11,  where  the  English,  ''  rinsed,"  represents  the  Hebrew, 
shataph,  to  dash,  or  pour  on  with  violence.  If  the  Jews 
imitated  the  Levical  rites  they  did  not  immerse  their  hands. 
Mark  throws  but  little  light  upon  the  mode  of  the  Phari- 
saic washing.  In  the  expression,  "  except  they  wash  their 
hands  oft,''  the  last  word  of  the  original  (pugme, — "  oft"), 
probably  had  a  technical  meaning,  by  wdiich  the  mode  Avas 
designated.  But  if  such  was  the  case,  that  meaning  has 
been  lost.  By  some  writers,  it  is  interpreted,  "  to  the  el- 
bows, "  to  the  wrist,"  "  with  closed  fist,"  etc.  But  all  this 
is  mere  conjecture,  as  is  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Lightfoot,  that 
it  denoted  a  certain  form  of  the  aflfiision  of  water  upoii 
the  hands. 

The  account  of  the  marriage  feast  affords  ground  for 
surer  deductions.  There  were  set  six  water  pots  of  stone, 
holding  two  or  three  firkins  apiece.     Whatever  were  the 

*  This  is  not  the  place  to  enlarge  upon  the  present  obliga- 
tion of  this  law.  In  the  ahove  places,  the  reader  will  find  it, 
as  at  first  p;iven  to  Noah,  as  expounded  and  perpetuated  under 
the  Levitical  dispensation,  and  as  ajrain  re-enforced  upon  the 
Gentile  churches  by  the  apostles.  When  and  why  was  it  ab- 
rogated ? 


212  PURIFYINGS  OF  THE  JEWS.  [Part  VIII. 

rites  referred  to  by  Mark,  under  the  two  designations  of 
*'  washing  the  hands,"  and  "  baptism,"  it  was  necessary  that 
sufficient  water  should  be  provided  for  all  occasions  of  both 
kinds  which  were  likely  to  occur,  in  the  large  concourse 
of  wedding  guests,  of  whom  Christ  and  the  apostles  were 
but  a  small  proportion.  For,  whilst  the  guests,  generally, 
were  expected,  of  course,  to  make  use  of  the  ordinary  rite, 
by  w^ashing  their  hands,  there  might  be  numbers  who  had 
incurred  such  exposure  as  to  require  the  appointed  baptism. 
What,  then,  are  the  indications  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
rites  thus  provided  for? 

The  capacity  of  the  water-pots,  accordiug  to  the  most 
probable  estimate,  was  not  more  than  ten  gallons  each. 
The  highest  supposition  sets  them  at  about  eighteen.  They 
were,  therefore,  altogether  too  small  to  have  been  used  as 
bath-tubs,  for  the  immersion  of  the  guests.  The  possibility, 
therefore,  of  such  a  necessity,  did  not  enter  into  the  calcu- 
lations of  those  who  provided  for  the  occasion.  Were  the 
w^aterpots,  then,  used  for  immersing  the  hands?  The  cus- 
toms of  the  east,  then  and  to  this  day, — the  fact  that  Jesus 
and  his  disciples  evidently  appear  as  but  a  small  propor- 
tion of  the  guests, — and  the  quantity  of  wine  miraculously 
made  by  Jesus  for  their  supply,  unite  to  certify  that  the 
great  body  of  the  community  of  Cana  was  present  at  the 
feast.  The  first  suggestion,  therefore,  that  presents  itself 
is,  that  the  supposed  process  must  soon  have  rendered  the 
water  disgusting,  from  its  use  in  the  manner  supposed,  by 
a  succession  of  persons.  Another  and  conclusive  fact  is 
the  use  made  by  our  Savior  of  these  waterpots..  The  feast 
had  been  some  time  in  progress,  so  that  the  guests  had 
"  well  drunk,"  before  the  exhausting  of  the  wine.  All  had 
been  purified,  and  the  pots,  appropriated  to  that  use,  stood 
with  the  remaining  water,  as  thus  left.  When,  Jesus  said 
to  the  servants, — "Fill  the  waterpots  with  water,"  "they 
filled  them  to  the  brim,"  and  immediately  carried  the  wine 
to  the  governor  of  the  feast.     The  servants  were  ignorant 


Sec.  XL VII I.]  WASHING   THE  HANDS.  213 

of  the  purpose  of  Jesus,  aud,  as  tlie  narrative  shows,  sim- 
ply did  as  they  were  directed.  There  was  no  emptying  of 
foul  water.  There  was  no  cleansing  of  the  waterpots. 
There  is  no  consciousness,  manifested  in  the  narrative,  of 
occasion  for  it.  Nor  was  there  time.  It  was  in  the  midst 
of  the  feast ;  and  the  wine  was  already  exhausted,  although 
the  ruler  of  the  feast  and  the  guests  were  unaware  of 
it.  (V.  9.)  Tlie  account  of  the  transaction  w^as  written  by 
John,  an  eye-witness,  for  the  information  of  coteraporaries 
who  were  famiHar  Avith  the  rites  of  purifying,  whatever 
they  were.  And  had  they  been  performed  in  the  water,  in 
any  way,  an  explauation  was  necessary^  or  the  inference 
became  inevitable  that  the  vessels  were  used  just  as  they 
stood.  In  these  circumstances,  is  it  to  be  imagined  that 
the  waterpots  already  contained  the  washings  of  the  guests ; 
or  even  that  they  were  emptied  of  these  and  then  appro- 
priated as  recepticles  of  the  Avine,  which  was  immediately 
served  to  the  very  persons  who  had  just  washed  in  them  ? 
Clearly,  the  facts  compel  the  conclusion  that  "the  purify- 
ings  of  the  Jews,"  here  provided  for  were  not  done  in  the 
waterpots,  but  with  water  taken  from  them,  and  poured  or 
sprinkled  on  the  guests. 

This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  exi:>licit  testimony 
of  the  rabbins.  Kabbi  Akiva  was  a  doctor  of  the  law  of 
the  most  eminent  reputation,  his  disciples  being  numbered 
by  thousands.  He  was  president  of  the  sanhedrim,  less 
than  one  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Christ.  Being 
made  prisoner  by  the  Romans,  upon  tlie  suppression  of  the 
insurrection  of  Bar  Kokeba,  of  which  he  was  an  active 
promoter,  he  was  thrown  into  prison  awaiting  execution. 
When  food  was  brought  to  him,  the  jailer  thinking  the 
supply  of  water  too  liberal,  poured  the  greater  part  on  the 
ground.  The  rabbi  althougli  famishing  of  thirst,  directed 
what  remained  to  be  ponred  upon  Jiis  hands,  saying,  "It  is 
better  to  die  witli  thirst  than  to  transgress  the  traditions 
of  the  elders." 


214  PURIFYINGS  OF  THE  JEWS.  [Part  VIII. 

Section  XLIX. — Baptism  upon  return  from  Market. 

Another  point  in  Mark's  statement  is,  that,  '*Wheu 
they  come  from  the  market,  except  they  baptize,  they  eat 
not."  Here,  it  would  seem  that  Mark  means  somethiupc 
different  and  more  important  than  the  ordinary  washing  of 
the  hands,  to  which  he  has  just  before  referred.  It  is  an 
additional  statement,  of  other  rites  employed  on  special 
occasions.  The  word,  agora,  which  is  translated  ''the 
market,"  has  a  much  more  extensive  signification  than  the 
English  word.  Its  primary  meaning  is,  a  concourse,  an 
assembly,  of  any  iind.  And  while  it  was  used  among 
others,  to  designate  the  assemblies  for  traffic,  and  hence 
the  places  of  such  assemblies,  it  is  not,  in  the  text,  to  be 
understood  in  that  limited  sense ;  but  as  comprehensive  of 
all  promiscuous  assemblages  of  the  people,  in  which  a  per- 
son was  liable  unwittingly  to  come  in  contact  with  the  un- 
clean. It  w^as  upon  occasion  of  our  Savior's  coming  from 
such  an  assembly,  that  the  Pharisee  of  whom  Luke  informs 
us  was  surprised  that  he  had  not  first  baptized  before  din- 
ner. He  had  been  preaching  in  the  midst  of  a  multitude 
"gathered  thick  together"  (Luke  xi,  29),  when  he  re- 
ceived and  accepted  the  invitation  to  dine.  He  had  thus 
been  exposed  to  a  contact  which  the  Pharisees  would  have 
carefully  avoided,  as  liable  to  involve  them,  unaware,  in 
the  extremest  defilement,  and  to  render  necessary  special 
rites  of  purifying.  This  was  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  the 
surprise  of  the  Pharisee  at  the  conduct  of  Jesus. 

As  to  the  mode  of  the  baptism  here  referred  to,  the 
gospels  are  silent.  In  favor  of  the  supposition  that  it  was 
immersion,  there  is  nothing  whatever  in  the  Scriptures.  It 
rests  wholly  upon  the  assumption  that  that  is  the  meaning 
of  baptizo.  The  circumstances  all  very  strongly  fiivor  the 
conclusion,  that  as  the  major  defilements  of  the  Mosaic  law 
were  all  purged  by  sprinkling,  so  this,  the  major  defile- 
ment of  Pharisaic  tradition  was  cleansed  in  a  kindred  way. 


Skc.  XLIX.]  BAPTISM  AFTER  MARKET.  215 

Among  the  indications  in  favor  of  this  conclusion  are,  the 
fact  tliat  the  provision  made  for  purifying  at  the  marriage 
feast  exchides  the  idea  of  immersion ; — the  entire  silence  of 
the  Scriptures  as  to  any  facilities  for  that  purpose  ; — the  in- 
congruity of  the  supposition  to  the  circumstances  of  Jesus, 
in  the  act  of  sitting  down  at  the  Pharisee's  table ; — the  ab- 
sence from  the  narrative  of  any  allusion  to  means  provided 
by  the  Pharisee  for  the  performance,  in  that  mode,  of  a 
rite  by  him  so  highly  esteemed,  and  for  which  special  pro- 
vision was  necessary; — and  the  improbability  of  such  a  form 
gaining  prevalence  among  "the  Pharisees  and  all  the 
Jews,"  involving,  of  necessity,  both  expense  and  labor,  to 
an  intolerable  extent.  If,  on  the  contrary,  as  we  may 
reasonably  su2:)pose,  the  house  of  the  Pharisee  was  provided 
with  appliances,  "  after  the  manner  of  the  purifying  of  the 
Jews,"  they  would  consist  of  water  pots  set  at  the  door,  as 
at  the  marriage  feast,  out  of  which  the  guests,  as  they 
entered,  could  take  water  for  pouring  on  their  hands,  or 
baptizing  their  persons  by  sprinkling,  Avithout  inconven- 
ience or  delay. 

We  have  formerly  seen  that  the  self-washings  of  the 
Mosaic  law, — in  which  alone  its  advocates  have  ever  pre- 
tended that  immersion  may  be  found  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment,— were  of  continual  recurrence  in  every  family.  We 
find  in  the  time  of  Christ  the  rites  supplemented  by  those 
now  in  question,  which  were  of  even  more  frequent  occasion. 
If  they  were  performed  by  self- washing,  by  affusion,  or  by 
sprinkling,  such  provision  of  vessels  as  thus  indicated  was 
all-sufficient.  But  if  they  were  immersions  of  the  person,  the 
almost  daily  necessities  of  every  family  would  have  required 
not  only  an  extraordinary  supply  of  water,  but  a  capacious 
bath  tub  in  every  house.  Without  such  a  vessel  and 
supply,  at  home,  immersion  of  the  person,  with  the  frequency 
required,  was  not  merely  improbable;  it  was  impossible. 
But  such  arrangements  would  have  involved  an  amount 
of  expense  and  of  labor  wliich  no  people  could  endure. 


216  PUIUFYINGS  OF  THE   'JEWS.  [Part  VIII. 

If  we  open  the  Scriptures  to  inquire  whatsis  their  testi- 
mony on  this  point,  on  which,  if  the  system  of  immersion 
was  in  operation,  some  hints  could  not  fail  to  appear,  we  find 
that  the  one  only  statement  or  allusion  is  contained  in  the 
account  of  the  six  water  pots  at  the  marriage  feast.  They 
were  set  "  after  the  manner  of  the  purifying  of  the  Jews." 
This  expression,  alike  in  itself,  and  in  the  attendant  cir- 
cumstances, as  already  considered,  is  exclusive  of  the  sup- 
position that  any  purifying  rite  was  observed  among  the 
Jews,  for  which  the  water  pots  were  not  a  sufficient  pro- 
vision. In  short,  all  the  evidence  concurs  to  determine 
that  "  the  purifying  of  the  Jews,"  however  performed,  was 
not  by  immersion  of  the  person. 

Section  L. — A  Various  Reading. 

There  is  a  various  reading,  in  the  Greek  manuscripts, 
which  is  full  of  meaning  with  reference  to  our  present  in- 
quiry. Whilst  many  manuscripts,  including  the  Alexan- 
drian, which  is  referred  to  the  fifth  century,  read  baptisontai, — 
"  except  they  baptize  they  eat  not,"  (Mark  vii,  4);  the  two 
oldest  and  of  the  highest  authority,  the  codices  Sinaiticus 
and  Vaticanus,  both  dating  from  the  fourth  century,  and 
with  them  numbers  of  a  later  date,  read,  rantisdntai,  "  ex- 
cept they  sprinkle  they  eat  not."  The  presumption  is  very 
strong  in  favor  of  rantisdntai  being  the  true  reading.  Its 
bearing  on  the  logical  connection  of  Mark's  statement  is 
worthy  of  not^.  According  to  it,  he  describes  three  classes 
of  rites.  He  specifies,  first,  self-washings  of  the  hands,  as 
always  used  before  dinner ;  second,  certain  sprinUings,  re- 
sorted to  upon  supposition  of  more  serious  defilements ;  ijnd 
third,  baptisms  of  pots  and  cups,  etc.,  the  modes  of  j^urify- 
ing,  for  which,  prescribed  in  the  law,  were  various.  The 
relation  of  these  purify  in  gs  to  those  appointed  by  Moses 
is  apparent.  They  coiucide  with  the  self- washings,  the 
sprinklings,  and  the  purifying  of  things  prescribed  by 
him.     The  various  readiugs  here  involve  considerations  of 


Skc.  l.]  a  various  heading.  217 

great  importance.  As  before  stated,  rantisdntai  is  the  read- 
iug  of  the  two  oldest  aud  most  highly  esteemed  manuscripts, 
dating  back  to  within  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of 
the  death  of  the  apostle  John.  These  manuscripts  are 
recognized  by  critical  scholars  as  being  so  far  independent 
of  each  other  that  their  various  readings  indicate  the  gradual 
divergence  which  would  progress  from  copy  to  copy  through 
several  generations  of  manuscripts ;  so  that  the  reading  on 
which  they  unite  must  have  originated,  if  not  with  the 
evangelist,  at  least  very  soon  after  the  first  publication  of  his 
gospel.  On  the  other  hand,  the  reading,  baptisdntai,  first 
found  in  the  Alexandrian  codex,  of  the  fifth  century,  ap- 
pears in  the  great  majority  of  extant  manuscripts.  We 
may  confidently  conclude  that  there  must  have  been  earlier 
copies  of  high  authority  in  which  this  reading  was  found. 
It  thus  appears  that  at  a  time  but  little  if  any  removed 
from  the  age  of  the  apostles,  these  two  readings  existed 
side  by  side  in  the  received  copies  of  the  gospel. 

This  fact  is  the  more  significant  in  view  of  the  jealous 
care  with  which  the  purity  of  the  New  Testament  text  was 
guarded.  So  long  as  the  last  of  the  apostles  survived,  his 
inspired  authority  was  an  available  resort  on  all  questions 
of  controversy,  arising  in  the  churches.  (2  Cor.  xi,  28 ; 
3  John  9,  10.)  During  this  period,  the  importance  of  an 
absolutely  pure  text  of  the  writings  of  the  apostles  and 
evangelists  was  not  fully  appreciated.  The  work  of  tran- 
scription was  left  to  the  zeal  of  private  individuals,  who 
were  often  wanting  in  the  necessary  qualifications;  whilst 
there  was  no  system  of  responsible  revision.  It  was  prob- 
ably during  this  period,  closing  about  fifty  years  after  the 
death  of  the  apostle  John,  that  the  most  important  varia- 
tions and  errors  crept  in.  About  that  time,  the  importance 
of  a  pure  text,  as  an  authoritative  standard  of  appeal  on 
questions  of  controversy,  began  to  be  felt;  and,  thereafter, 
great  vigilance  was  exercised  by  the  officers  of  the  church 
in  securing  correct  copies.     The  transcriptions  were  made 

19 


218  PURIFYINGS  OF  THE  JEWS.  [Pakt  VIII, 

from  tlie  best  and  most  accurate  manuscripts.  And  when 
a  copy  was  made,  it  appears  to  have  been  subjected  to  a 
critical  revision,  after  having  been  first  collated  usually  by 
the  scribe  himself,  with  the  copy  from  which  it  was  taken, 
for  the  purpose  of  correcting  any  clerical  errors,  that  might 
have  occurred  in  the  transcription.  The  manuscript  was 
then  handed  over  to  "the  corrector,"  whose  business  it  was 
to  revise  the  text  by  a  comparison  with  other  available 
manuscripts.  In  this  office  the  services  of  the  most  learned 
and  able  men  in  the  church  were  employed;  and  it  was 
not  until  sanctioned  by  such  revision  that  a  manuscript 
was  accepted  as  an  authentic  copy.  Beside  the  process 
here  described,  the  ancient  manuscripts  abound  in  changes 
made  by  subsequent  critics.  The  codex  Siuaiticus  exhibits 
alterations  ''  by  at  least  ten  different  revisers,  some  of  them 
systematically  spread  over  every  page,  others  occasional  or 
limited  to  separate  portions  of  the  manuscript,  many  of 
them  being  cotemporaneous  with  the  first  writer;  far  the 
greater  part  belonging  to  the  sixth  or  seventh  century,  a 
few  being  as  recent  as  the  twelfth."* 

In  view  of  the  diligence  of  the  criticism  thus  systemat- 
ically exercised,  the  fact  is  very  remarkable  that  the  two 
readings,  baptisontai,  and  rantisdntai  should  have  been 
transmitted  side  by  side,  and  traceable  back  nearly  to  the 
apostolic  age.  And  it  is  further  remarkable,  that  no  one 
of  the  ten  successive  critics  whose  revisions  are  traceable 
on  the  codex  Sinaiticus  has  corrected  the  place  in  question 
so  as  to  read  baptisontai,  although  it  is  certain  that  reading 
did  extensively  prevail.  Nor  is  the  variation  alluded  to  in 
the  waitings  of  the  fathers.  It  is  immaterial  to  the  present 
argument  which  is  the  true  reading.  If  it  was  raniisontai, 
the  language  of  Mark  explains  the  meaning  of  Luke. 
What  the  Pharisee  expected  was  that  Jesus  should  have 
baptized  himself  by  sprinkling.     And,  whichever  is  the  true 

'•'Scrivener's  Collation  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus,  Introduc- 
tion, p.  XX. 


Sec.  LL]  BAPTISMS  OF  THINGS.  219 

reading,  this  fact  is  patent  that  at  an  age  so  early  as  to  be 
undistingiiishable  from  that  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists, 
so  intimate  was  the  relation  between  sprinkling  and  bap- 
tism that  the  one  word  was  inadvertently  substituted  for  the 
other,  in  transcription ;  and  the  alteration  received  by  the 
ablest  men  in  the  church,  without  question  or  protest,  then 
or  afterward,  or  the  betrayal  even  of  a  consciousness  of 
change ;  despite  the  watchfulness  of  a  criticism  systematic 
in  its  exercise  and  jealous  for  the  purity  of  the  text.  If 
the  primitive  church  understood  baptism  to  mean  immer- 
sion, if  the  rite  Avas  administered  in  that,  as  the  only 
Scriptural  mode,  the  occurrence  of  the  case  here  presented 
would  have  been  plainly  impossible.  It  could  only  happen 
where  the  two  words  were  identified  as  designating  the 
same  rite.  How  easily  the  w^ords  might  be  confounded 
will  appear  by  a  comparison  of  them  as  written  in  the 
primitive  Greek,  known  as  uncials,  or  capital  letters : — 

BAnTIZS2NTAI. 
PANTIZi2NTAI. 

AVere  the  first  and  third  letters  dimly  written,  or 
blurred,  the  one  word  might  readily  be  taken  for  the  other. 

Section  LI. — Baptisms  of  Utensils  and  Fiivniture. 

Another  point  in  Mark's  statement  is  the  baptisms  of 
cups  and  pots,  brasen  vessels  and  tables.  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  insist  upon  the  argument  which  is  deducible  from 
the  practical  impossibiUty  of  the  immersion  of  these  things; 
nor  to  notice  the  theories  which  have  been  devised  to  over- 
come the  difficulties  w^iich  it  interposes  to  the  Baptist 
mode.  The  reader  who  has  followed  the  course  of  this 
history  will  recognize,  in  the  Levitical  ordinances  respect- 
ing the  purifyings  of  things,  the  source  whence  w\as  de- 
rived the  hint  of  these  supererogatory  rites.  And  a  com- 
parison of  the  various  Mosaic  regulations  on  the  subject  w^ill 
satisfy  the  candid  reader  that  the  list  here  given  is  not  de- 
signed to  be  exhaustive,  but  an  exemplification  merely  of 


220  PURIFYINGS  OF  THE  JEWS.  [Part  VIII. 

the  observances  in  question.  This  is  further  evident  from 
the  fact  that  the  enumeration,  as  made  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
(v.  8) ,  was  of  pots  and  cups,  only ;  which  Mark  in  his 
subsequent  account  ampKfies  by  the  other  additional  exam- 
ples. Respecting  them,  the  ritual  of  Moses  provided  modes 
of  purifying  varied  both  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  the 
things  to  be  cleansed,  and  the  character  of  the  defilements; 
as  we  have  formerly  seen.  We  may  well  suppose  that  the 
scribes  did  not  fail  to  imitate  every  form  of  the  legal  pur- 
ifyings,  in  their  additions  to  the  law  of  God.  It  is  not 
only  possible,  but  very  probable  that  some  of  these  inven- 
tions were  in  the  form  of  immersion.  For,  as  we  have  for- 
merly seen,  that  was  one  of  the  forms  appointed  in  the 
law,  for  the  purifying  of  things.  But  the  evangelist  speaks, 
not  of  one,  but  of  various  rites ;  which  he  designates  by  the 
plural  and  generic  name  of  (baptismous) , — baptisms.  The 
word  thus  selected  is  the  very  same  which  is  used  by  Paul 
as  the  comprehensive  designation  of  the  purifying  rites  of 
the  Mosaic  law, — the  "  divers  baptisms,"  imposed  at  Sinai. 
The  conclusion  is  therefore  irresistible,  that  whilst  Paul 
used  the  the  word  in  a  generic  sense,  as  comprehending  the 
various  forms  of  legal  purification,  among  which  the  im- 
mersion of  person  is  not  to  be  found,  Mark  uses  it  in 
a  like  generic  sense  as  comprehensive  of  the  various  forms 
for  the  purifying  of  things,  among  which  immersion  may 
have  been  one,  although,  if  such  was  the  fact,  the  proof  is 
yet  to  be  produced. 

The  result  of  our  examination  is,  that  among  the  Phar- 
isaic rites,  no  trace  of  the  immersion  of  the  person  is  to  be 
found. 


Sec.  LIL]  HISTORY  OF  JOHN'S  MISSION.  221 


Part  IX. 

JOHN'S  BAPTISM. 
Section  LI  I. — The  History  of  Johnh  Mission. 

THE  account  of  John's  ministry  in  the  evangelists,  is 
invariably  introduced  by  an  appeal  to  the  prophecies 
which  foretold  his  coming  and  office.  A  remarkable  pas- 
sage from  Malachi  is  alluded  to  by  the  angel  Gabriel,  in 
announcing  to  Zacharias  the  birth  of  the  forerunner  (Lake 
i,  17),  and  by  Mark  in  his  introduction  to  the  gospeL 
r^Iark  i,  2).  A  prophecy  of  Isaiah  is  cited  in  all  the  gos- 
pels ;  as  is  also  John's  own  account  of  his  commission  and 
office.  It  will  be  convenient  for  the  purposes  of  the  pres- 
ent discussion  to  bring  these  passages  together.  Says  the 
Lord  by  Malachi,  "  Behold,  I  wull  send  my  messenger,  and 
he  shall  prepare  the  way  before  me,  and  the  Lord  whom 
ye  seek  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple,  even  the  Mes- 
senger of  the  covenant  whom  ye  delight  in ;  behold  he  shall 
come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  But  who  may  abide  the 
day  of  his  coming,  and  who  shall  stand  when  he  appeareth? 
For  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire  and  like  fuller's  soap ;  and  he 
shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver,  and  he  shall 
purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver, 
that  they  may  oflTer  unto  the  Lord  an  oflTcring  in  righteous- 
ness. Then  shall  the  offering  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  be 
pleasant  unto  the  Lord,  as  in  the  days  of  old,  and  as  in 
former  years.  And  I  will  come  near  to  you  to  judgment, 
and  I  will  be  a  swift  witness  against  the  sorcerers.  .  .  . 
Remember  ye  the  law  of  Moses  my  servant  which  I  com- 
manded unto  him  in  Horeb,  for  all  Israel,  with  the  stat- 
utes and  judgments.     Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the 


222  yOHN'S  BAP 7 ISM.  [Part  IX. 

prophet,  before  the  comiog  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day 
of  the  Lord ;  and  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to 
the  children,  and  the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers, 
lest  I  come  and  smite  the  earth"  (the  land  of  Israel) 
"■  with  a  curse." — Mai.  iii,  1-5 ;  iv,  4-6. 

The  citation  from  Isaiah  (xl,  3-5),  together  Avith  John's 
exposition  of  it,  is  thus  given  by  Luke.  "John  came  into 
all  the  country  about  Jordan,  preaching  the  baptism  of 
repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins;  as  it  is  written  in 
the  book  of  the  words  of  Esaias  the  prophet,  saying, 
The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord ;  make  his  paths  straight.  Every  valley 
shall  be  filled,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  brought 
low ;  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough 
ways  shall  be  made  smooth ;  and  all  flesh  shall  see  the  sal- 
vation of  God.  Then  said  he  to  the  multitude  that  came 
forth  to  be  baptized  of  him,  O  generation  of  vipers,  who 
hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come?  Bring 
forth,  therefore,  fruits  worthy  of  repentance,  and  begin  not 
to  say  within  yourselves.  We  have  Abraham  to  our  father; 
for  I  say  unto  you  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to 
raise  up  children  unto  Abraham.  And  now  also  the  axe 
is  laid  unto  the  root  of  the  trees;  every  tree,  therefore, 
which  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  dowm,  and 
cast  into  the  fire.  ...  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  Avater; 
but  one  mightier  than  I  cometh,  the  latchet  of  whose 
shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  unloose;  he  shall  baptize  you 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire;  whose  fan  is  in  his 
hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  will 
gather  the  wheat  into  his  garner;  but  the  chafl'  he  will 
burn  with  fire  unquenchable." — Luke  iii,  3-17.  In  John's 
gospel,  some  additional  points  are  given.  "John  seeth 
Jesus  coming  unto  him,  and  saith.  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  w^hich  taketh  a^vay  the  sin  of  the  world.  This  is  he 
of  whom  I  said,  After  me  cometh  a  man  which  is  preferred 
before  me;  for  he  was  before  me.     And  I  knew  him  not; 


Sec.  LIL]  HISTORY  OF  JOHN'S  MISSION.  223 

but  that  he  should  be  made  manifest  to  Israel,  therefore 
am  I  come  baptizing  with  water.  And  John  bare  record, 
saying,  I  saw  the  ISpirit  descending  from  heaven,  like  a 
dove,  and  it  abode  upon  him.  And  I  knew  him  not,  but 
He  that  sent  me  to  baptize  with  water,  the  same  said  unto 
me.  Upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the  Spirit  descending  and 
remaining  on  him,  the  same  is  he  which  baptizeth  with 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  I  saw,  and  bare  record,  that  this  is 
the  Son  of  God."— John  i,  29-34. 

The  title  by  which,  in  the  prophecy  of  Malachi,  the 
Lord  Jesus  is  designated, — "  the  Messenger  of  the  covenant" 
carries  us  back  to  the  scene  at  Sinai,  when  the  covenant 
was  made  and  sealed.  In  the  close  of  the  prophecy,  our 
attention  is  expressly  directed  to  that  occasion.  "Remem- 
ber the  law  of  Moses,  which  I  commanded  unto  him  in 
Horeb,  for  all  Israel,  with  the  statutes  and  judgments." 
The  intimations  thus  given  lead  us  up  to  the  originating 
occasion  of  John's  testimony. 

Immediately  after  the  coming  of  Israel  to  Sinai,  among 
the  communications  which  expounded  the  covenant,  pre- 
paratory to  its  sealing,  the  Lord  said  to  them,  "Behold  I 
send  an  Angel  before  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  the  way,  and 
to  bring  thee  into  the  place  which  I  have  prepared.  Be- 
ware of  him  and  obey  his  voice.  Provoke  him  not,  for  he 
will  not  pardon  your  transgressions;  for  my  name  is  in 
him."— Ex.  xxiii,  20,  21.  This  Angel  is  by  the  Lord 
elsewhere  called  "My  Presence"  (Compare  Ex.  xiv,  19; 
xxxii,  34;  xxxiii,  2,  14,  15),  and  by  Isaiah,  "the  Angel 
of  His  presence." — Isa.  Ixiii,  9.  He  is  thus  announced  to 
Israel  as  sent  to  be  God's  servant  in  the  fulfilling  of  the 
Sinai  covenant,  and  is  hence  by  the  prophet  called  "the 
Messenger  of  the  covenant." 

Another  line  of  facts  leads  in  the  same  direction. 
When,  at  the  mount,  Israel  was  overwhelmed  with  the 
terror  of  the  great  fire  and  of  God's  audible  voice,  and 
entreated  Moses,  "Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  hear; 


224  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Paut  IX. 

but  let  not  God  speak  with  us  lest  we  die"  (Ex.  xx,  19; 
Deut.v,  22-27),  their  proposal  thus  to  accept  Moses  as 
Mediator  between  them  and  God  was  graciously  approved. 
"They  have  well  said,  all  that  they  have  spoken." — Deut. 
V,  28.  Moses  was  accepted  in  that  office,  and  Israel  dis- 
missed from  the  assembly  at  the  mount.  (lb.  28-31.) 
But,  afterward,  Moses  revealed  to  them  how  much  more 
richly  their  abasement  and  prayer  had  been  answered  than 
they  had  asked  or  imagined.  "The  Lord  thy  God  will 
raise  up  unto  thee  a  prophet  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of 
thy  brethren  like  unto  me;  unto  him  ye  shall  hearken; 
according  to  all  that  thou  desiredst  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in 
Horeb,  in  the  day  of  the  assembly,  saying,  Let  me  not 
hear  again  the  voice  of  the  Lord  my  God,  neither  let  me 
see  this  great  fire  any  more  that  I  die  not.  And  the 
Lord  said  unto  me,  They  have  well  spoken  that  which 
they  have  spoken.  I  will  raise  them  up  a  prophet  from 
among  their  brethren,  like  unto  thee,  and  will  put  my 
words  in  His  mouth;  and  He  shall  speak  unto  them  all 
that  I  shall  command  Him." — Deut.  xviii,  15-18.  Com- 
pare John  xiv,  31  ;  xvii,  8,  14. 

We  are  thus  brought  to  the  relation  which  Moses  and 
the  Sinai  covenant,  sustained  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  that 
better  covenant  of  which  he  is  the  Mediator.  (Heb.  viiii,  6.) 
The  covenant  of  Sinai  as  formally  accepted  by  Israel  and 
ratified  through  the  mediation  of  Moses,  was  of  unspeakable 
moment,  as  being  the  installation  of  the  visible  church. 
But  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  an  outward  type,  a  manifes- 
tation and  announcement  of  the  covenant  of  grace  made 
with  the  invisible  church.  Of  the  one,  Moses  was  the 
Mediator ; — of  the  other,  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  one  is 
founded  upon  the  public  professions  and  promises  of  Moses 
and  the  assembly  of  Israel  (Ex.  xxxiv,  27)  ; — the  other 
on  the  engagement  of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  fulfill  all  righteous- 
ness. The  former  was  graven  on  tables  of  stone ;  the  lat- 
ter is  written  in  the  fleshly  tables  of  the  hearts  of  Christ's 


Skc.  LIII.]  THE  STATE  OF  JEWS.  225 

people.  (Jer.  xxxi,  33 ;  2  Cor.  iii,  3 ;  Heb.  viii,  10.)  The 
former  was  sealed  with  the  blood  which  was  partly  sprinkled 
on  the  Sinai  altar,  and  partly  mingled  with  water  and 
sprinkled  on  Israel ;  the  latter,  with  the  blood  of  sprinkUng 
of  Jesus  Christ  offered  in  the  holy  place  in  heaven,  and  the 
baptism  of  the  Spirit  which,  through  the  merits  of  that 
blood,  he  gives  his  people. 

We  can  now  see  the  bearing  of  certain  memorable 
words  uttered  by  the  Lord  Jesus.  When  Moses  sealed  the 
covenant,  he  sprinkled  the  book  and  the  peoj^le  with  the 
sacrificial  blood  and  water,  saying,  "Behold,  the  blood  or 
the  covenant,  which  the  Lord  hath  made  with  you  con- 
cerning all  these  words."  At  the  table,  the  night  of  the 
betrayal,  the  Lord  Jesus  took  the  cup,  and  having  given 
thanks,  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  saying,  "This  is  my  blood 
of  the  new  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many,  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins." — Matt,  xxvi,  28.  He  thus  signified  the 
typical  nature  of  the  transaction  in  the  wilderness,  as  relat- 
ing to  him,  and  announced  himself  about  to  fulfill  all  that 
it  foreshadowed.  Particularly  did  his  language,  by  appro- 
priating that  of  the  Sinai  baptism ,  recognize  both  it  and  the 
supper  as  symbols  and  seals  of  the  remission  of  sins,  of 
which  his  own  blood  bestows  the  reality. 

To  the  same  relation  between  the  Sinai  transactions  and 
Christ's  office  and  work,  Peter  bears  w^ituess.  A  few  days 
after  Pentecost,  upon  occasion  of  the  healing  of  the  impotent 
man,  he  reminded  the  wondering  assembly  of  the  promise 
made  by  Moses  to  the  fathers. — "A  prophet  shall  the  Lord 
your  God  raise  up  unto  you  of  your  brethren,  like  unto 
me.  .  .  .  Yea  and  all  the  prophets,  from  Samuel  and  those 
that  follow  after,  as  many  as  have  spoken,  have  likewise 
foretold  o/  i/iese  f?a?/s." — Acts  iii,  22-24. 

Section  LIII. — lArael  at  tlw  Time  of  John^s  Coming. 
When  John  came,  the  Jews  had  been  for  four  hundred 
years  without  a  prophet,  or  any  sensible  token  of  God's 


226  JOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Paut  IX. 

presence  among  them.  The  captivity  and  return  from 
Babylon  and  subsequent  circumstances  m  their  history  had 
effectually  and  finally  cured  the  inveterate  tendency  to 
idolatry,  which  had  characterized  them  from  the  days  of 
the  Egyptian  bondage.  But  this  change  did  not  bring  with 
it  an  awakening  of  true  spiritual  devotion  to  the  service 
of  God.  Instead  thereof  an  intense  zeal  of  self-righteous- 
ness was  cherished,  under  the  two  forms  of  a  fanatical 
pride  in  the  blood  of  Abraham,  and  an  ardent  devotion  to 
the  external  forms  and  rites  of  religion,  to  tithes  and  offer- 
nigs,  to  fastings  and  purifyings, — to  "righteousnesses  of  the 
flesh," — whilst  the  spirituality  and  power  of  the  divine  law 
were  obscured  and  set  aside  by  the  glosses  and  interpreta- 
tions of  the  elders.  Such  was  the  religion  of  the  scribes, 
who  "  sat  in  Moses'  seat,"  as  the  instructors  of  the  people. 
The  great  mass  of  the-  nation,  led  by  these  blind  guides, 
were  with  them  hastening  to  destruction ;  while  the  few 
who  still  sought  after  the  God  of  their  fathers  were  as 
sheep  without  a  shepherd.  In  the  meantime,  Jerusalem 
and  Judea  had  been  the  prey  alternately  of  the  Ptolemies 
of  Egypt,  the  Seleucidse  of  Syria,  and  factions  among 
themselves.  After  the  successful  revolt  of  the  Maccabees, 
a  brief  time  of  peace  and  prosperity  was  enjoyed  under  the 
sceptre  of  that  family.  But  the  rivalry  and  seditions  of  its 
members  brought  in  the  Eomaus,  under  whose  patronage 
the  Herodian  family,  of  Edomite  origin,  had  come  into 
power. 

During  the  progress  of  these  events,  the  whole  land  had 
been  polluted  with  crimes  and  atrocities  of  every  kiud,  and 
of  the  deepest  dye.  The  high  priesthood  was  habitually 
subject  to  barter  and  sale,  one  possessor  of  the  office  giving 
place  to  another  in  rapid  succession,  as  the  respective  aspi- 
rants were  able  to  purchase  the  office  from  the  kings  of 
Syria,  or  of  Judea,  or  to  seize  it  by  violence  or  the  favor 
of  the  rabble.  The  temple  itself  had  been  desecrated  by 
being  formally  set  apart  to  the  worship  of  Jupiter  Olym- 


Sec.  LIII.]  THE  STATE  OF  JEWS.  221 

pius.  And  as  though  that  was  Dot  enough,  it  had  been 
yet  more  horribly  defiled  by  fratricidal  blood ;  an  aspirant 
for  the  high  priesthood  having  secured  and  held  the  office  by 
the  murder  of  his  own  brother,  in  the  very  precincts  of  the 
temple.  The  entire  social  system  was  rotten,  and  the  na- 
tion was  fast  ripening  for  the  developments  about  to  be 
witnessed,  in  the  denial  and  crucifixion  of  the  Son  of  God, 
the  rejection  of  the  gospel,  and  the  crimes  which  precipi- 
tated society  into  a  chaos  of  anarchy  and  a  reign  of  terror, 
ending  in  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  the  desolation  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  nation  to  this  day. 

Thus,  when  John  began  his  ministry,  the  land  of  Is- 
rael, the  city,  the  temple,  and  the  nation  were  lying  under 
the  burden  of  the  unexpiated  and  unrepented  crimes  of 
many  centuries.  (Matt,  xxiii,  29-36.)  The  covenant  was 
forfeited  and  trampled  under  foot,  and  the  laud  and  the 
people  were,  in  every  sense,  moral  and  ritual,  utterly  un- 
clean. At  the  beginning  of  the  declension,  the  prophet 
Haggai  had  been  sent  to  the  priests  with  a  lesson  out  of 
the  law. — "Ask  now  the  priests  concerning  the  law,  say- 
ing. If  one  bear  holy  flesh  in  the  skirt  of  his  garment,  and 
with  his  skirt  do  touch  bread,  or  pottage,  or  wine,  or  oil, 
or  any  meat,  shall  it  be  holy  ?  And  the  priests  answered 
and  said.  No.  Then  said  Haggai,  If  one  that  is  unclean 
by  a  dead  body  touch  any  of  these,  shall  it  be  unclean? 
And  the  priests  answered  and  said,  It  shall  be  unclean. 
Then  answered  Haggai,  and  said.  So  is  this  people,  and  so 
is  this  nation  before  me,  saith  the  Lord :  and  so  is  every 
work  of  their  hands,  and  that  which  they  offer  there  is 
unclean." — Hag.  ii,  11-14.  After  the  cotemporaneous 
ministries  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  the  Spirit  of  prophecy 
was  withdrawn  for  about  one  hundred  years.  Then  sud- 
denly, a  trumpet  note  from  Malachi  broke  the  silence,  with 
a  brief  and  startling  call. — "  If  ye  will  not  hear,  and  if  ye 
will  not  lay  it  to  heart,  to  give  glory  unto  my  name,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  I  will  even  send  a  curse  upon  you,  and 


228  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Part  IX. 

I  will  curse  your  blessings.  Yea  I  have  cursed  them  al- 
ready. .  .  .  From  the  days  of  your  fathers,  ye  are  gone 
away  from  mine  ordinances  and  have  not  kept  them.  Re- 
turn unto  me,  and  1  will  return  unto  you,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts." — Mai.  ii,  2 ;  iii,  7.  But  they  did  not  return. 
Thereupon,  God  their  King  withdrew  from  all  communi- 
cation with  them  as  a  people,  for  four  centuries  following. 
Such  was  the  situation  of  that  people  at  the  coming  of 
John.  They  had  the  oracles  of  God,  his  ordinances,  and 
his  temple;  of  which  Haggai  had  said, — "I  w^ill  shake  all 
nations;  and  the  Desire  of  all  nations  shall  come,  and  I 
will  fill  this  house  with  glory,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." — 
Hag.  ii,  7.  But  all  this  was  as  a  piece  of  holy  flesh  in  the 
skirt  of  a  garment.  It  did  not  purify  the  nation,  while 
their  uncleanness  defiled  these  and  all  their  hallowed  things. 

Section  LIV. — The   Nature  and  End  of  John's  Baptism. 

Whilst  Israel  was  thus  apostate  and  excommunicate  from 
God,  the  Messenger  of  his  covenant  was  about  to  appear, 
in  that  character  the  aspect  of  which,  as  toward  the  rebell- 
ious and  unbelieving,  had  been  especially  emphasized  in  the 
prophecies  above  cited ;  and  the  exercise  of  which  resulted  in 
the  desolation  of  the  land,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  nation  a 
byword  and  a  hissing  in  all  lands.  *' Beware  of  him  and 
obey  his  voice.  Provoke  him  not ;  for  he  wdll  not  pardon 
your  transgressions ;  for  my  Name  is  in  him." — Ex.  xxiii, 
21.  "  Who  may  abide  the  day  of  his  coming?  And  who 
shall  stand  when  he  appeareth?" — Mai.  iii,  2.  So,  John 
announced  him. — "  Whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will 
thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  the 
garner,  but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaflE"  with  unquenchable 
fire." — Matt,  iii,  12.  His  coming  was,  to  Israel,  the  great 
crisis  in  their  history.  Therefore  the  mission  of  John. 
Said  the  angel  to  Zacharias,  "He  shall  go  before  Him  in 
the  Spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the 
fathers  to  the  children  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom 


Skc.  liv.]  nature  of  his  baptism.  229 

of  the  just;    to   make   ready   a   people   prepared  for  the 
Lord."— Luke  i,  17. 

When  the  ten  tribes  had  forsakeu  the  worship  of  God 
on  mount  Zion,  abandoned  his  covenant,  and  devoted 
themselves  to  the  worship  of  Baal  and  Ashtoreth,  Elijah 
was  sent  to  them  as  the  vindicator  of  the  forsaken  cove- 
nant, and  messenger  of  grace,  of  warning  and  of  judgment. 
His  first  work  was  to  demonstrate  the  sovereignty  and  God- 
head of  Jehovah,  and  the  imbecility  of  their  false  gods,  by 
the  famine  of  three  years  and  six  months,  and  by  the  fire 
from  heaven  consuming  both  sacrifice  and  altar  on  Car- 
mel.  He  then  executed  judgment  upon  the  prophets  of 
Baal  and  Ashtoreth,  the  seducers  of  Israel,  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  in  number.  On  this  occasion,  Israel  professed  to 
recognize  and  do  homage  to  the  God  of  their  fathers.  But 
Elijah  saw  too  clearly,  that  it  was  a  conviction  without 
root  in  their  hearts  and  affections.  When  therefore  he  re- 
ceived Jezebel's  message  of  vengeance,  his  faith  failed,  and 
he  fled  to  the  wilderness,  where  he  w^as  fed  by  an  angel  and 
led  forty  days  and  forty  nights  "  to  Horeb  the  mount  of 
God,"  the  spot  w^here  the  covenant  w^as  made  and  sealed 
with  the  twelve  tribes.  (1  Kings  xix,  8,  9.)  "And  he 
came  thither  unto  a  cave  and  lodged  there;  and  behold 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him,  and  He  said  to  him, 
What  dost  thou  here,  Elijah?"  The  interview  held  at 
that  place  exhibits  the  prophet  as  the  ordained  champion 
and  avenger  of  the  covenant.  To  the  foregoing  question 
twice  proposed,  he  twice  responds, — "I  have  been  very 
jealous  for  the  Lord  God  of  hosts :  for  the  children  of  Is- 
rael have /orsa/c€?i  iliy  covenant,  thrown  down  thine  altars; 
and  slain  thy  prophets  with  the  sword  ;  and  I,  even  I,  only, 
am  left;  and  they  seek  my  life  to  take  it  away." — ^vs.  10, 
14.  Thereupon,  he  was  commissioned  to  anoint  Hazael, 
king  over  Syria;  and  Jehu  king  of  Israel,  and  Elisha  to 
be  prophet  in  his  stead ; — "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
him  that  escapeth  the  sword  of  Hazael  shall  Jehu  slay; 


230  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Part  IX. 

and  him  that  escapeth  from  the  sword  of  Jehu  shall  Elisha 
slaj.  Yet  I  have  left  seven  thousaDd  in  Israel,  all  the. 
knees  which  have  not  bowed  unto  Baal,  and  every  mouth 
which  hath  not  kissed  him." — vs.  15-18. 

The  office  thus  fulfilled  by  Elijah,  as  a  messenger  of 
grace,  calling  Israel  back  to  the  allegiance  of  the  abandoned 
covenant ;  and  of  wrath,  announcing  and  inflicting  its  pen- 
alty upon  the  transgressors,  is  the  key  to  the  closing  Avords 
of  the  book  of  Malachi. — *'  Eemember  ye  the  law  of  Moses 
my  servant,  which  I  commanded  unto  him  in  Horeb  for  all 
Israel,  with  the  statutes  and  judgments.  Behold,  I  will 
send  you  Elijah  the  prophet,  before  the  coming  of  the 
great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord  ;"  the  day,  to  wit,  of 
the  coming  of  "  the  Messenger  of  the  covenant ;"  "  and  he 
shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to  the  children  and  the 
heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers,  lest  I  come  and 
smite  the  land  wdtli  a  curse." — Mai.  iv,  4-6.  The  same 
characteristics  of  John's  ministry  were  the  occasion  of  the 
statement  of  the  angel  Gabriel  to  Zacharias,  before  cited, 
*'  He  shall  go  before  Him,  in  the  Spirit  and  power  of 
Elias."  In  the  points  here  noticed,  we  have  the  explana- 
tion of  the  scene  of  the  transfiguration,  in  which  Moses, 
the  mediator  of  the  Sinai  covenant,  Elijah  its  vindicator 
against  apostate  Israel, — and  Jesus,  the  mediator  of  the 
new  covenant,  talked  together  "  of  his  decease  which  he 
should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem,"  on  behalf  of  the  true  Is- 
rael, and  in  fulfillment  of  the  terms  of  the  new  covenant, 
typified  in  that  of  Sinai.     (Luke  ix,  31.) 

The  same  office,  of  warning  and  testimony  on  behalf 
of  the  forsaken  covenant,  which  Elijah  exercised  toward 
the  ten  tribes,  John  fulfilled  to  the  Jew^s.  To  understand 
the  full  force  and  significance  of  his  mission,  the  fiict  must 
be  distinctly  appreciated  that  Christ's  humiliation  and  suf- 
ferings, however  momentous  in  themselves,  and  however 
transcendently  important  to  us,  w^ere  a  mere  transient 
incident  in  the  work  undertaken  by  him.     His  coming  into 


Sicc.  LIV.]  NATURE  OF  HIS  BAPTISM.  231 

the  world  was  a  coming  to  the  throne,  to  which  the  cross 
was  a  mere  stepping  stone, — a  means  to  his  exaltation, 
and  to  the  achievements  of  his  sceptre,  in  purging  the 
Father's  floor.  In  those  achievements,  justice  and  judg- 
ment are  as  conspicuous  as  grace;  and  if  the  latter  wit- 
nessed a  first  signal  and  glorious  display  in  the  scenes  of 
Pentecost,  the  former  was  as  signally  illustrated  in  the 
destruction  and  desolation  of  the  city  and  land  that  re- 
jected their  King.  It  was  Avith  a  view  to  the  crisis  thus 
created  in  the  history  of  Israel  by  the  coming  of  Christ, 
that  John  was  sent  as  his  forerunner  and  herald.  John  did 
not  ignore  that  abasement  of  Christ  which  was  the  antece- 
dent condition  and  means  of  his  exaltation  and  glory. 
But  his  distinctive  theme,  the  subject  which  filled  his 
heart  and  inspired  his  tongue,  was  the  throne,  the  kingdom, 
the  power  and  justice.  Of  it  he  was  the  official  herald, 
and  from  it  his  preaching  and  baptism  took  their  form  and 
significance.  His  commission  was  threefold ;  (1)  To  an- 
nounce the  kingdom  of  heaven  at  hand,  and  herald  the 
coming  of  the  King,  the  Messenger  of  the  covenant,  the 
Baptizer  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire;  (2)  To  iden- 
tify and  point  him  out  in  the  person  of  Jesus;  (3)  To 
prepare  the  way  before  him.  In  fulfillment  of  the  first 
and  second  of  these  functions,  John  preached  the  coming 
of  "One  Miglitier  than  I,"  who  should  baptize  Israel  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire.  He  pointed  out  and  an- 
nounced the  Lord  Jesus  as  that  coming  One, — **the  Lamb 
of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world," — "the  Son 
of  God."  And  by  connecting  this  testimony  with  his  proc- 
lamation and  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  he  anticipated  the  preaching  of  the  apostles,  and 
summed  and  published  the  gospel  of  atonement  and  remis- 
sion through  the  blood  of  Christ.  By  this  preaching  and 
by  the  seal  of  baptism  to  those  who  received  his  testimony  ^ 
he  fulfilled  the  third  function  above  mentioned,  and  "  made 
ready  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord." — Luke,  i,  17. 


232  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.    .  [Part  IX. 

There  were  two  termini  to  which  John's  baptism  sus- 
tained pecuHar  and  intimate  relations,  and  from  which  his 
ministry  derived  all  its  significance.  The  first  was  that 
"  day  of  the  assembly"  at  Sinai,  when  Israel  entered  into 
the  covenant  by  which  she  took  God  as  her  King  and 
received  the  baptismal  seal  sprinkled  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 
It  was  the  office  of  John  to  announce  the  personal  com- 
ing of  the  King  of  Israel;  to  warn  them  of  the  penalty 
of  the  violated  covenant;  announce  the  remission  of  sins 
and  restoration  of  the  covenant,  to  those  who  should  re- 
pent and  return  to  their  allegiance;  and  to  certify  this 
by  the  renewal  of  the  broken  seal. 

The  second  terminus  to  which  John's  baptism  looked 
was  that  day  when  the  covenant  King  of  Israel  should 
appear  ,in  person,  assume  his  throne,  and  enter  on  tlie 
functions  announced  by  John,  under  the  figures  of  the 
baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  baptism  of  fire.  Of 
the  former,  so  conspicuous  in  the  prophecies,  the  baptism 
of  Israel  by  Moses,  and  that  now  administered  by  John, 
were  alike  typical.  The  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  admin- 
istered by  the  enthroned  Baptizer,  was  the  end  and  fulfill- 
ment of  both. 

Section  LV. — TJie  Extent  of  John's  Baptism. 

The  public  ministry  of  John  commenced  about  six 
months  before  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  and  was  ternjinated 
by  his  imprisonment  soon  after  that  event.  (Mark  i,  14; 
Luke  iii,  20,  21.)  At  first,  his  preaching  was  peripatetic. 
"He  came  into  all  the  country  about  Jordan,  preaching." — 
Luke  iii,  3.  But  as  his  fame  extended  and  the  throng  of 
his  hearers  increased,  he  took  his  station  at  Bethabara  (or, 
Bethany,  as  the  critical  editions  read),  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  Jordan,  and  afterward  at  "Enou,  near  to  Salim," 
where  he  seems  to  have  been,  when  arrested  by  Herod. 
During  the  brief  period  of  his  ministry,  there  "went  out 
to  him  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all  the  re2:ion  round 


Sbc.  lv.]  extent  of  his  baptism.  233 

about  Jordan,  and  were  baptized  of  him  in  Jordan,  con- 
fessing their  sins." — Matt,  iii,  5,  6.  The  facts  as  to  the 
extent  of  John's  ministry  and  baptism,  are  stated  in  terms 
equally  strong  by  Mark  and  Luke.  (Mark  i,  5 ;  Luke  iii, 
2L)  Of  these  statements,  we  are  asked  to  believe  that 
they  are  extravagant  hyperbole,  —  that  they  only  mean 
that  there  were  some  present  from  every  place  in  the 
regions  specified.  As  "  if  I  should  say  that  in  the  political 
convention  of  1840,  all  Tennessee  was  gathered  at  Nash- 
ville to  hear  Henry  Clay,  I  would  not  mean  that  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  State  was  there;  but  only  that 
there  were  some  from  every  part.  Just  so,  Matthew  says 
Jerusalem  came,^that  a  great  many  people  from  Jerusa- 
lem and  Judea  and  the  country  round  about  Jordan  came. 
That  is  to  say,  the  country  as  well  as  the  city  was  fully 
represented  in  the  crowd.  Besides,  John  did  not  baptize 
all  who  came.  He  positively  refused  the  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees,  who  composed  a  great  part  of  the  Jewish  na- 
tion."* This  explanation  forgets  that  the  language  in 
question  is  not  the  exaggerated  statement  of  excited  and 
partisan  newsmongers;  but  sober  history  dictated  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  reported  to  us  by  "two  or  three  wit- 
nesses," in  concurrent  language.  As  to  the  assertion  con- 
cerning the  Pharisees,  every  thoughtful  reader  of  the  gos- 
pels knows  that  in  comparison  with  the  whole  body  of  the 
people,  they  were  very  few.  In  all  their  conspiracies 
against  Jesus  they  were  constantly  embarrassed  by  fear  of 
"the  people." 

Of  the  vastness  of  the  multitude  who  w^ere  baptized  by 
John  we  have  not  only  the  express  testimony  of  the  evan- 
gelists, but  certain  incidents  related  by  them  remarkably 
confirm  it.  The  first  is,  that  Herod  was  restrained,  for 
some  time,  from  the  murder  of  John,  by  fear  of  the  peo- 
ple, "  because  they  counted  liim  as  a  prophet." — IMatt.  xiv,  5. 

*Theodosia  Ernest,  Vol.1,  p.  79.  Published  by  the  Baptist 
Publication  Society. 

20 


234  yCHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Pakt  IX. 

Another  is,  the  use  made  of  the  same  popular  sentiment, 
by  the  Lord  Jesus.  A  few  days  before  his  betrayal  and 
death,  upon  occasion  of  his  second  purging  of  the  temple, 
the  rulers  came  to  him  demanding  by  what  authority  he 
did  these  things.  Jesus  answered,  "I  will  also  ask  you 
one  thing ;  and  answer  me :  The  baptism  of  John,  Was 
it  from  heaven,  or  of  men?  And  they  reasoned  with 
themselves,  saying,  If  we  shall  say.  From  heaven ;  he  will 
say,  Why  then  believed  ye  him  not  ?  But  and  if  we  say,  Of 
men ;  all  the  people  will  stone  us :  for  they  be  persuaded 
that  John  was  a  prophet.  And  they  answ^ered,  that  they 
could  not  tell  w^hence  it  was." — Luke  xx,  3-7;  Matt,  xxi, 
24;  Mark  xi,  29.  Such  and  so  strong  and  universal  was 
the  conviction  of  the  people,  that  John's  commission  was 
from  God,  that  neither  Herod  nor  the  Avhole  united  body 
of  the  priests,  scribes  and  elders, — the  great  council  of  the 
nation, — dared  to  antagonize  it.  This,  too,  was  three  years 
after  the  close  of  John's  ministry. 

It  may  be  said  that  no  intimation  is  here  given  that 
the  people  spoken  of  had  been  baptized  of  John.  But,  in 
the  first  place,  the  evangelists  had  already  expressly  stated 
the  universal  fact,  in  their  distinct  account  of  his  ministry, 
and  did  not,  therefore,  need  to  repeat  it;  and,  in  the  sec- 
ond, the  issue  involved  in  his  ministry  was  too  vital  and 
sharply  defined  to  allow  any  to  profess,  even,  to  recognize 
his  divine  authority,  and  yet  neglect  his  baptism.  But 
there  is  yet  further  testimony  on  the  point. 

Jesus  had  been  preaching  about  two  years,  when  John 
from  his  prison  sent  two  of  his  disciples  to  ask, — "Art  thou  he 
that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another?"  On  this 
occasion  Jesus  uttered  a  testimony  concerning  John,  of 
which  it  is  said  that,  "all  the  people  that  heard  him,  and 
the  publicans,  justified  God,  heinc)  baptized  with  the  baptism 
of  John.  But  the  Pharisees  and  the  lawyers  rejected  the 
counsel  of  God  against  themselves ;  being  not  baptized  of 
him." — Luke  vii,  29,  30.     This  occurred  in  Galilee,  which 


Sec.  LV.]  EXTENT  OF  HIS  BAPTISM.  235 

district  was  uot  included  in  any  of  the  statements  of  the 
evangelists,  respecting  the  attendance  on  John's  niinistiy. 
He  does  uot  seem  ever  to  have  preached  in  Galilee.  And 
yet,  from  that  comparatively  distant  region,  the  people  had 
so  flocked  to  his  baptism,  tliat  two  years  afterwerd  the  evan- 
gelist could  state  that  all  the  people  had  been  baptized  of 
him,  the  lawyers  and  Pharisees  excepted,  and  find  in  this 
the  ex2)lanation  of  the  universal  acceptance  of  Christ's  tes- 
timony. The  exception  here  greatly  strengthens  the  former 
clause  of  the  statement,  and  establishes  the  fact  of  the 
universal  reception  of  John's  baptism -by  the  common  people. 
In  fact,  this  conclusion  is  involved  in  the  very  nature 
of  the  circumstances  of  Israel.  However  viewed,  the 
ministry  of  John  created  a  most  momentous  crisis  in  the 
history  of  God's  dealings  with  that  people.  John  came  to 
them,  the  fore-announced, — the  last, — the  greatest,  of  all 
the  prophets.  He  came  on  the  loftiest  mission  that  had 
ever  been  entrusted  to  man, — to  act  as  the  immediate  per- 
sonal messenger  and  herald  of  the  coming  King.  He  came 
to  Israel,  excommunicate  from  God,  to  call  them  indi- 
vidually, and  as  a  peoj)le,  to  repent  and  return  to  the  fold 
of  God's  longsufferiug  mercy ;  and  to  seal  the  offered  grace, 
by  baptizing  those  who  professed  to  obey  his  call.  The 
alternative  which  his  ministry  set  before  them  was  plain 
and  imperative.  To  absent  themselves,  or  to  attend  on  his 
preaching  without  receiving  his  baptism,  would  have  been 
an  open  act  of  treason  to  the  coming  King,  an  express 
and  aggravated  rcj'ection  of  his  authority  and  of  this  extraor- 
dinary and  final  overture  of  grace  to  the  nation.  John's 
ministry  thus  compelled  a  decision  by  which  a  broad  and 
public  line  was  drawn  among  the  people.  On  the  one  side, 
were  those  who  professed  to  repent  and  return  to  the  for- 
saken covenant  and  God  of  their  fathers,  and  to  own  the 
authority  of  the  promised  King  of  Israel ;  and  whose  pro- 
fession was  sealed  by  the  reception  of  John's  baptism ; — 
on  the  other,  those  who,  in  rejecting  John's  testimony  and 


236  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Part  IX. 

turning  their  backs  upon  his  baptism,  repudiated  the  com- 
iug  King  and  spurned  his  overture  of  mercy.  Of  the  sig- 
nificance and  importance  of  all  this,  the  evangelists  were 
fully  aware.  To  suppose  them  in  such  circumstances  to 
have  indulged  in  a  loose  and  exaggerated  style  of  statement, 
asserting  that  Jerusalem,  and  all  Judea,  and  all  the  region 
round  about  Jordan  were  baptized,  when,  in  fact,  not  one 
in  a  hundred  of  the  people  received  the  rite,  w'ould  be  a 
contradiction  of  the  diviue  testimony,  which  nothing  but 
ignorance  and  lack  of  consideration  can  excuse  or  palliate. 
It  is  further  to  be  considered  that  every  class  of  the 
people,  and  both  men  and  women  resorted  to  John's  bap- 
tism, the  lawyers  or  scribes,  that  is,  the  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees,  only  excepted.  (Matt,  xxi,  31,  32;  Luke  vii, 
29 ;  XX,  6.) 

5.  His  rejection  of  the  Pharisees  is  adduced  as  proof 
that  "though  great  multitudes  came  to  John  and  followed 
Christ,  yet  comparatively  few  brought  forth  fruit  to  justify 
their  baptism."*  But  how  is  it  supposed  that  John  could 
know  any  thing,  ordinarily,  as  to  the  fruits  manifested  by 
those  w^ho  sought  his  baptism  ?  It  is  perfectly  evident 
that, — as  at  Sinai,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  on  every 
other  occasion  that  is  on  record  in  the  ministry  of  the 
apostles, — so,  in  the  case  of  John's  hearers, — a  good  pro- 
fession was  the  sole  ordinary  condition  of  baptism.  Is  it 
asked, — How,  then,  came  John  to  refuse  the  Pharisees? 
That  he  did,  in  fact,  refuse  them,  is  an  assumption,  without 
proof  or  probability.  He  warned  them ;  and  that  is  all 
we  are  told  of  the  matter.  As  to  the  occasion  of  such 
warning, — the  ruling  sin.  of  that  sect  was  self-righteousness. 
The  pride  of  it  found  expression  in  unmistakable  tokens. 
Says  Jesus,  "All  their  works  they  do  for  to  be  seen  of  men. 
They  make  broad  their  phylacteries,  and  enlarge  the  borders 
of  their  garments." — Matt,  xxiii,  5.  The  phylacteries  were 
parchments  on   Avhich   portions  of  the  law   were  written. 

■*Theodosia  Earnest,  vol.  i,  p.  80. 


Sec.  LVL]  IT  WAS  NOT  IMMERSION.  237 

They  were  folded  iu  the  form  of* a  cube,  and  bound  to  the 
forehead  or  the  arm,  with  ribbands.  The  borders  were 
fringes  and  ribbands  of  blue,  which  God  directed  Israel  to 
wear  on  the  skirts  of  their  garments,  as  a  memorial  of  their 
covenant  relations  to  him.  (Num.  xv,  38,  39.)  These  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees  made  broad,  so  as  to  be  seen  of  men. 
The  first  step  therefore  toward  a  true  repentance,  on  their 
part,  would  have  been  a  putting  off  of  these  badges  of  self- 
righteousness.  And  their  being  worn  by  any  of  John's 
hearers  was  to  him  an  instant  and  evident  token  of  vain 
glory  and  self-righteousness  unabased  ;  whilst  putting  them 
off  would  have  been  a  manifest  fruit  and  evidence  of  re- 
pentance. 

The  facts,  therefore,  as  set  forth  in  the  gospels,  clearly 
indicate  that  the  ministry  of  John  was  attended  by  an  ap- 
parent revival  of  religion,  but  little  short  of  that  which 
occurred  at  Sinai,  when  the  covenant  was  first  made.  And 
although,  like  the  tribes  in  the  wilderness,  many  of  those 
who  received  John's  baptism  failed  to  profit,  for  lack  of 
true  repentance  and  faith, — many  brought  forth  fruit  out 
of  good  and  honest  hearts.  Of  such,  the  college  of  the 
apostles  was  formed ;  and  of  such,  no  doubt,  largely  con- 
sisted the  firstfruits  of  the  gospel,  in  Judea  and  Galilee, — 
as  we  see  repeated  traces  of  it  in  the  ministry  of  Paul, 
among  the  far  off  Gentiles.  (Acts  xiii,  24,  25;  xviii, 
25;  xix,  3.) 

Section  LYI. — Jolin  did  not  Immerse. 

As  to  the  mode  of  John's  baptism,  there  are  several 
circumstances  which  interpose  insuperable  objections  to  the 
supposition  that  it  was  by  immersion. 

lo  That  form  would  have  been  utterly  incongruous  to 
John's  office  as  the  herald  of  the  covenant.  No  rational 
account  can  be  given  of  the  origin  and  meaning  of  such  a 
rite,  in  that  connection.  The  Levitical  law  was,  in  all  its 
ordinances,  a  testimcmy  to  the  covenant;  and  of  it  John 


238  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Part  IX. 

was  a  minister.  But  in  that  law  there  Avas  but  oue  admin- 
istered baptism,  and  that  by  sprinkling,  Avhilst  there  were 
no  immersions  of  persons,  whatever.  It  therefore  furnishes 
no  trace  of  the  origin  of  the  supposed  form.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  certainly  did  not  originate  with  John.  Baptism, — 
the  rite  which  he  administered,  was  in  his  day,  no  novelty 
among  the  Jews.  The  only  remaining  supposition,  if  we 
assume  John  to  have  immersed  his  disciples,  is,  that  it  may 
have  been  borrowed  from  the  inventions  of  the  scribes. 
But,  in  the  first  place,  there  is  not  a  trace  of  evidence  nor 
of  probability  that  such  a  rite  was  ilien  included  in  the  rit- 
ual of  the  scribes ; — and  in  the  second,  it  is  preposterous  to 
suppose  that,  in  such  circumstances  and  on  such  a  mission, 
John  would  have  turned  his  back  on  the  ordinances  of 
God's  law,  by  which  for  fifteen  centuries  the  covenant  had 
been  sealed,  and  chosen  for  the  characteristic  and  seal  of 
his  ministry  one  of  those  inventions  by  means  of  which  that 
law  was  made  void  and  God's  people  led  astray.  (Mark 
vii,  6,  8,  13.)  This  too,  when  he  in  the  most  open  and  de- 
cisive manner  set  Mmself  in  opposition  to  the  inventors  of 
those  rites,  whom  he  denounced  as  a  generation  of  vipers ! 
2.  The  meaning  of  the  rite,  in  supposed  connection  with 
John's  ministry,  is  as  inexplicable  as  its  origin.  Neither 
the  law  nor  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  anywhere  give 
a  clue  to  it.  John  in  his  ministry  is  equally  silent.  Or, 
rather,  his  statements  are  altogether  incongruous  to  the 
supposed  form. — '*  He  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  with  fire.  Whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he 
will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into 
the  garner,  but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquench- 
able fire." — Matt,  iii,  11,  12.  Thus,  John,  announced  the 
Lord  Jesus,  not  in  his  character  of  humiliation  and  death ; 
but  in  his  exaltation  and  royalty,  as  he  appeared  at  Sinai, 
the  covenant  King  of  Israel, — as  he  is  now,  the  enthroned 
Baptizer,  dispensing  his  Spirit  and  grace  to  his  people,  and 
pouring  out  the  fire  of  his  justice  on  his  and  his  Father's 


Sec.  L VI.]  IT  IVJS  NOT  IMMERSIO.Y.  239 

enemies.  In  such  circumstances,  and  in  connection  with 
such  a  preaching,  what  meaning  could  the  disciples  of  John 
liave  discovered  in  the  rite  of  immersion  ?  Respecting  it, 
they  ask  no  questions,  and  John  makes  no  explanation. 
If  it  be  supposed  to  have  meant  the  burial  of  Christ,  this 
much  at  least  is  certain,  that  the  resemblance  was  not  so 
close  as  to  have  been  self-evident  to  the  people.  And  even 
though  understood  by  them  in  that  sense,  it  would  have 
been  so  far  aside  from  the  immediate  intent  and  end  of 
John's  ministry,  and  so  defective  in  its  testimony,  since  it 
knows  notliiug  of  the  resurrection,  that  it  would  have  been 
calculated  to  distract  and  perplex  his  hearers,  rather  than 
to  serve  the  object  of  his  preaching.  But  John  was  ex- 
plicit as  to  the  meaning  of  his  baptism.  Whatever  its  form, 
it  meant — 7iot  the  burial  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  but  the  baptism  of 
the  Spirit  by  him  dispensed.  ^^  I  baptize  you  with  luater,  but 
he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 

3.  The  great  discomfort,  and  the  gross  indecency  which 
are  inevitably  involved  in  the  supposition  that  John  im- 
mersed his  followers  are  decisive  against  it.  Neither  had 
John  a  water-proof  suit  in  which  to  officiate,  nor  were  his 
auditors  supplied  with  "  immersion  robes,"  nor  change  of 
garments,  so  needful,  now%  to  obviate  the  discomfort  and 
danger  of  the  dripping  attire.  But  this,  even,  is  a  less 
consideration  than  the  indecent  exposure  which  the  sup- 
posed rite  would  have  involved.  The  garments  of  the  Jews 
were  of  two  patterns.  That  next  the  person  Avas  in  the 
form  of  a  sleeveless  shirt,  descending  to  the  knees.  A  sec- 
ond garment  was  of  the  same  shape,  but  usually  of  more 
costly  materials,  which  reached  to  the  ankles.  Over  all 
were  thrown  one  or  two  shawls  or  blankets,  large  enough 
to  enAvrap  the  entire  person.  Beside  sandals,  which  were 
not  ordinarily  worn,  except  by  those  in  easy  circum- 
stances,— these  were  the  only  articles  of  apparel.  Those  of 
the  women  were  of  nearly  the  same  sha])e ;  the  distinction 
of  sex  appearing  mainly  in  the  materials  and   ornaments. 


240  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Part  IX. 

When  at  rest,  the  garments  were  left  free.  But  in  pre- 
paring for  labor  or  for  travel,  they  were  drawn  up  to  the 
knees,  and  fastened  with  a  girdle  at  the  loins,  thus  leaving 
the  lower  limbs  unencumbered.  That,  with  such  clothing 
indecent  exposure  must  have  been  a  constant  incident  to 
the  extemporaneous  and  hasty  immersions  which  the  Bap- 
tist theory  requires,  is  manifest ;  and  the  weight  of  the 
consideration  needs  no  enforcing. 

4.  The  number  resorting  to  John  was  such  as  to  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  their  having  been  immersed.  When 
Israel  came  out  of  Egypt,  they  were  "about  six  hundred 
thousand  on  foot,  that  were  men,  beside  children;  and  a 
mixed  multitude  went  up  "also  with  them." — Ex.  xii,  37,  38. 
When  about  to  enter  the  promised  land,  the  census  was 
six  hundred  and  one  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  thirty 
men,  from  twenty  years  old  and  upward,  beside  the  Levites, 
who  numbered  twenty-three  thousand  males  from  a  month 
old.  (Num.  xxvi,  51,  62.)  Upon  this  basis,  the  whole 
number  of  the  people  was  between  three  and  four  millions. 
In  the  days  of  David,  in  the  enumeration  from  which  the 
tribes  of  Levi  and  Benjamin  w^ere  omitted,  the  number 
of  fighting  men  was  one  million  five  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand.  If  we  make  a  proportional  addition  for  the 
omitted  tribes,  it  gives  a  total  of  one  million,  eight  hundred 
and  fifty-five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-four.  These 
would  represent  a  population  of  seven  or  eight  millions. 
From  two  independent  statements  occurring  in  Josephus,  it 
appears  that  the  population,  just  before  the  destruction  of 
the  nation,  was  at  least  as  much  as  four  million  souls.*  If 
we  suppose  John  to  have  stood  in  the  water  three  hours  a 
day,  dufing  the  six  months  of  his  ministry,  and  to  have 
administered  the  rite  at  the  rate  of  one  per  minute,  during 
the  entire  time,  the  total  results  of  such  miraculous  labors 
and  endurance,  would  have  been  about  thirty-two  thousand 
seven  hundred  and   sixty  persons   baptized,  that  is,  one  in 

*  Jewish  war.     II.  xiv,  3;  and  VI.  x,  3. 


Bkc.lvil]      he  sprl\kled  pure  water.  241 

every  oue  hundred  and  twenty-two  of  the  people.  Witli- 
out  the  intervention  of  miracle — and  John  did  no  mir- 
acle— even  this  was  utterly  impossible.  And  yet,  how 
entirely  it  falls  short  of  the  statements  of  the  evangelists, 
upon  any  candid  interpretation  of  them,  is  evident. 

That  the  theory  of  immersion  is  encumbered  with  diffi- 
culties of  the  most  serious  nature  must  be  evident  to  every 
c<audid  reader. 

Section  LVII. — John  Baptized  by  Sprinkling  with  un- 
mingled  Water. 

We  are  now  to  consider  an  important  feature  in  the 
history  of  this  rite,  which  has  not  yet  been  brought  into 
distinct  notice.  It  has  appeared  how  thoroughly  the 
sprinkled  baptisms  of  the  Levitical  system  are  identified 
in  their  meaning  and  office  with  the  prophecies  concerning 
the  sprinkling  of  Israel  and  the  nations,  and  the  outpour- 
ing of  the  Spirit,  in  the  days  of  the  Messiah.  The  point 
of  present  interest  concerning  those  prophecies  is,  that  in 
all  the  expressions  referred  to,  the  figure  is  that  of  w^ater 
alone, — the  sacrificial  elements  never  being  alluded  to  in 
that  connection.  A  coincident  fact  appears,  with  relation 
to  John's  ministry.  In  his  own  announcement  he  uses 
language  which  seems  to  be  emphatic  and  exclusive, — '*I 
indeed  baptize  you  with  water'' — Matt,  iii,  11;  Mark  i,  8; 
Luke  iii,  16;  John  i,  26.  So,  Jesus  says, — "John  truly 
baptized  with  water" — Acts  i,  5.  And  Peter  refers  to  it 
in  the  same  terms.  (lb.  xi,  16.)  This  form  of  expres- 
sion constantly  used,  and  the  antithesis  always  stated, 
between  his  baptism  and  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  be 
administered  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  render  it  certain  that 
John  baptized  with  water  alone,  without  any  sacrificial 
elements.  A  careful  examination  of  the  prophecies  above 
referred  to  and  a  consideration  of  the  subject  matter  of 
John's  preaching,  may  furnish  the  explanation  of  these 
facts.     The  Mosaic  ritual  was  constructed  with  a  view  to 

21 


242  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Part  IX. 

a  very  full  and  systematic  exjDosition  of  the  gospel,  in  the 
symmetry  of  its  parts  and  proportions.  In  the  baptisms 
of  that  ritual,  therefore,  provision  Avas  made  for  showiug 
forth,  not  only  the  power  and  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in 
the  bestowal  of  the  Spirit,  but,  also,  the  virtue  of  his 
blood,  which  w^as  the  procuring  cause  of  the  Spirit's  grace. 
But  that  blood  is  the  token  of  humiliation  and  sufferings. 
On  the  contrary,  the  theme  of  the  prophecies  here  referred 
to  is,  the  exaltation  and  glory  of  Christ's  throne,  and  the 
conquests  of  his  saving  scepter,  after  the  days  of  humilia- 
tion and  sorrow  shall  have  been  forever  ended.  This  was 
the  distinctive  meaning  of  the  water  of  the  Sinai  bap- 
tisms, and  by  the  figure  of  the  sprinkling  or  pouring  of 
bare  water,  the  prophets  represent  the  same  thing. 

So,  when  John  came  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias, 
he  did  not,  indeed,  ignore  the  office  of  Christ  as  the  aton- 
ing Lamb  of  God.  But  his  distinctive  commission,  and 
the  controlling  function  of  his  ministry  was  to  herald  the 
coming  of  their  covenant  King,  in  his  exaltation  and  power 
to  an  apostate  and  rebellious  nation — to  warn  them  of 
the  office  which  he  would  fill,  and  the  judgment  which  he 
would  execute,  who  should  baptize  them,  not  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  only,  but  with  fire  also.  As  appropriate, 
therefore,  to  this,  his  office  and  message,  he  dispensed  a 
baptism  of  water  alone,  which  spake  of  authority,  power, 
and  royal  grace,  and  omitted  that  element  which  signified 
humiliation  and  death. 

Whilst  the  rite  was  thus  modified — its  nature  and  sig- 
nificance remained  the  same.  As  already  indicated,  the 
quantity  of  ashes  used  in  dispensing  the  Levitical  baptism 
Avas  so  small  as  to  be  wholly  inappreciable  to  the  senses.  The 
instruction  therein  conveyed  was  dependent  upon  the  asso- 
ciation of  ideas,  and  not  upon  the  quantity  of  the  elements 
used.  The  bestowal  of  the  Spirit  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  of 
necessity,  presupposes  the  sacrifice  of  himself  as  the  condi- 
tion and  price  of  his  exaltation  and  power,  by  which  the 


Sic.  LVII.]        HE  SPRINKLED  PURE   WATER,  243 

Spirit  is  sent  and  salv^ation  bestowed.  What  the  Levitical 
blood  and  ashes  of  sprinkling  expressed  the  baptism  of 
John  implied.  The  two  rites  thus  conveyed  the  same 
instruction,  and  filled  the  same  office.  They  were  essen- 
tially one  and  the  same  baptism.  The  latter  form  antici- 
pated the  immediate  sending  forth  of  the  gospel  to  the 
Gentiles,  divested  of  the  sacrificial  system  and  the  burdens 
of  the  ritual  law.  That  they  were  the  same  in  mode  will 
not  be  questioned  by  any  who  have  candidly  traced  the 
foregoing  line  of  investigation.  With  an  enumeration  of 
some  of  the  points  therein  involved,  we  will  close  this 
brancb  of  our  subject. 

1.  Hitherto  the  Baptist  argument  has  been  entrenched 
in  the  definition  of  baptizo.  After  the  same  example  we 
now  plant  ourselves  on  the  ascertained  meaning  and  use 
of  the  word,  as  illustmted  in  the  foregoing  pages.  We 
have  found  it  to  be  the  accepted  designation  for  the  admin- 
istered rites  of  Levitical  purifying,  which,  in  all  their  cir- 
cumstantial variations,  were  performed  always  by  sprin- 
kling. The  rite  dispensed  by  John  was  an  administered 
baptism.  It  was,  therefore,' administered  after  the  exam- 
ple of  the  Levitical  system,  by  sprinklins". 

2.  John  was  the  herald  and  champion  of  the  covenant, 
and  the  messenger  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  its  surety  and 
king.  His  commission,  as  announced  by  [Malachi,  was,  in 
God's  name,  to  admonish  Israel  to  ''Eemember  the  law  of 
Moses,  my  servant,  which  I  commanded  unto  him  in  Horeb 
for  all  Israel,  with  the  statutes  and  judcrments;"— ]\Ial. 
iv,  4.— ''The  law  of  Moses,"— that  covenant  law  bv  the 
acceptance  of  which  Israel  became  the  people  of  God. 
His  ministry  derived  all  its  significance  from  the  terms  of 
that  covenant,  and  from  the  office  of  its  Suretv,  in  purging 
his^  floor  with  the  baptisms  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  fire. 
This  was  the  whole  theme  of  his  ministry-,  as  it  was  the 
whole  substance  of  the  prophetic  terms  of  his  commission. 
To  seal  such  a  testimony,  no  rite  could  have  been  so  appro- 


244  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Pakt  IX. 

priate  as  the  perpetuated  and  familiar  form  of  the  Sinai 
baptism,  the  original  seal  of  the  same  covenant,  by  ^vhich 
its  scope  and  intent  were  so  luminously  set  forth. 

3.  John  preached  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  in  the  name  of  Him  whom  God  was 
about  to  exalt  "to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Savior,  for  to  give 
repentance  to  Israel  and  forgiveness  of  sins." — Acts  v,  31. 
In  the  Levitical  baptism  the  administrator  represented  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  this  very  function  of  his  grace,  and  the 
sprinkled  water  represented  the  Holy  Spirit  shed  by  him 
upon  his  people,  by  whom  that  repentance  is  wrought,  and 
remission  conveyed.  It  was  the  "purification  for  sin,"  the 
symbol  of  remission.  It  was  thus  a  visible  representation 
to  his  hearers  of  the  very  things  which  John  was  com- 
missioned to  utter  in  their  ears. 

4.  At  the  time  of  John's  coming,  all  the  thoughts  and 
conceptions  of  Israel  on  the  subjects  involved  in  his  min- 
istry, except  as  perverted  by  the  traditions  of  the  scribes, 
had  been  molded  by  the  Mosaic  ritual  respecting  the  puri- 
fying of  the  unclean,  and  by  the  testimonies  of  the  proph- 
ets, uttered  in  the  language  of  that  ritual.  John  was  sent, 
not  to  ignore  or  obliterate  the  impress  thus  made  by  the 
instructions  and  discipline  of  fifteen  centuries,  but  to  con- 
firm and  build  upon  it,  to  reiterate  and  seal  the  same  tes- 
timonies. To  this  end,  no  other  rite  was  appropriate  or 
congruous,  but  the  old  familiar  baptism  by  sprinkling,  the 
interpretation  of  which  was  so  abundant  in  the  prophets, 
and  the  meaning  of  which  w^as  know^n  to  all  Israel. 

5.  The  baptism  administered  by  the  Lord  Jesus  is  never 
known  nor  alluded  to  in  the  Scriptures  under  any  other 
form  than  that  of  affusion.  It  is  the  antitype  of  the  ritual 
sprinklings  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  fulfillment  of  all  the 
prophecies  of  the  sprinkling  of  Israel  and  the  nations,  the 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  upon  them ;  and  its  fulfillment  is 
in  the  New  Testament  invariably  spoken  of  in  the  same  style. 
To  symbolize  this,  John's  baptism  must  have  been  by  affusion. 


Sec.  LVIL]        HE  SPRINKLED  PURE   WATER.  245 

6.  lu  the  use  of  this  rite,  all  the  difficulties  which  em- 
barrass the  hypothesis  of  immersion  disappear.  As,  at 
Siuai,  all  Israel  were  baptized  at  once,  so,  under  John's 
preaching  the  number  to  be  baptized  would  involve  no 
embarrassment,  exposure,  or  exhaustion.  As  many  as  were 
assembled  at  one  time  could  be  baptized  in  one  group,  with 
the  hyssop  bush.  Thus,  no  excessive  fatigue  was  involved; 
no  time  was  consumed  in  mere  manual  labor;  no  dauger 
to  the  health,  nor  liability  to  indecent  exposure  was  in- 
curred. The  meaning  of  the  rite  was  familiar  to  all,  and 
in  its  use  congruity  and  symmetry  were  maintained  in 
every  part  and  relation  of  John's  ministry. 

The  view  thus  presented  is  not  inconsistent  with  the 
supposition  that  many  of  John's  disciples  may  have  received 
the  rite  while  standing  in  the  waters  of  the  Jordan.  The 
law  requiring  the  use  of  running  water,  the  propriety  of 
the  one  river  of  Palestine  as  a  type  of  the  river  of  the 
heavenly  Canaan,  and  the  necessities  of  the  multitudes 
who  waited  on  his  ministry,  united  in  bringing  him  to  the 
river.  And  the  rite  would  be  performed  by  the  baptist 
dipping  a  hyssop-bush  into  the  stream,  and  therewith 
sprinkling  those  who  presented  themselves  around  him. 
That,  in  these  circumstances  many  of  the  people  would 
enter  the  water  is  beyond  question.  The  suggestion  is  to 
be  considered  in  the  light  of  eastern  habits  and  modes  of 
dress.  The  people  were  clothed  in  loose  garments,  with  no 
covering  to  the  feet  except  sandals  worn  by  a  few.  Coming, 
the  most  of  them,  from  a  distance  on  the  rocky  roads  of  that 
country, — the  feet  sore  and  lacerated,  and  the  climate  hot,— 
no  impulse  would  have  been  more  natural  or  more  congru- 
ous to  custom,  than  to  step  into  the  water,  for  the  sake  of 
its  refreshing  coolness.  A  curious  illustration  of  this  occurs 
in  the  Phsedrus  of  Plato.  He  describes  Socrates  walking 
in  the  environs  of  Athens  accompanied  by  Phsedrus: — 

Socrates.  "Here;  let  us  turn  aside  to  the  lUyssus, 
and,  where  you  prefer,  we  can  recline  in  quiet." 


246  yOHN'S  BAPTISM.  [Part  IX. 

Ph^drus.  "For  the  occasion,  as  it  seems,  I  hapjien 
to  be  barefoot,  while  you  are  always  so.  Thus  it  will  be 
quite  convenient  for  us,  wetting  our  feet  in  the  shallow 
stream,  to  walk  not  without  enjoyment,  especially  at  this 
season  of  the  year  and  of  the  day."* 

It  is  altogether  supposable  that  Philip  and  the  eunuch 
stepped  thus  into  the  water,  as  the  most  convenient  way 
of  access  to  it;  and  it  is  equally  possible  that  such  may 
have  been  the  case  with  many  of  John's  disciples,  and  that 
Jesus  himself  may  have  been  thus  baptized.  Nor  is  this 
a  mere  fancifid  conjecture.  Among  the  remains  of  Chris- 
tian art  which  have  been  transmitted  to  us  from  the  third 
and  fourth  centuries  of  our  era,  there  are  several  represent- 
ations of  the  baptism  of  our  Savior,  some  of  them  in 
bronze  bas-relief,  and  some  in  Mosaic.  In  them  all,  John 
pours  water  on  the  head  of  Jesus.  In  several,  Jesus 
stands  in  the  Jordan,  and  John  from  the  bank  administers 
the  rite.  In  others,  both  are  on  dry  ground.  In  no  in- 
stance does  John  appear  in  the  water.  At  the  date  of 
these  representations,  immersion  is  supposed  to  have  been 
almost  universally  prevalent  in  the  church.  They,  there- 
fore, the  more  forcibly  demonstrate  the  strength  and  prev- 
alence of  the  tradition  which  still  survived,  representing 
John  to  have  baptized  in  the  Jordan,  by  affusion.  In  them 
the  idea  of  immersion  is  doubly  excluded, — by  the  direct 
representation  of  the  water  poured  upon  the  head  of  Jesus; 
and  by  the  fact  that  the  invariable  position  of  John,  out 
of  the  water,  renders  immersion  physically  impossible,  as 
administered  by  him. 

*Platonis  Phsed.,  v. 


Sec.  LVIII.]  HIS  BAPTISM  BY  JOHN.  247 


Part  X. 

CHRIST'S  BAPTISMS   AND  ANOINTING. 

Section  LVIII. — The  Meaning  of  his  Baptism  by  John, 

"rpHEN  cometli  Jesus  from  Galilee  to  Jordan  unto 
JL  John,  to  be  baptized  of  him.  But  John  forbade 
Inm,  saying,  I  have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee;  and  com- 
est  thou  to  me?  And  Jesus  answering  said  unto  him, 
Suffer  it  to  be  so  no\y ;  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill 
all  righteousness.  Then  he  suffered  him." — Matt,  iii,  13-15. 
Several  theories  have  been  advanced,  and  much  discus- 
sion had  as  to  the  nature  and  intent  of  the  baptism  of 
Jesus  by  John.  Archbishop  Thomson,*  supposes  it  to 
have  been,  (1.)  That  the  sacrament  by  -which  all  were 
hereafter  to  be  admitted  into  His  kingdom  might  not  want 
his  example  to  justify  its  use.  (2.)  That  John  might  have 
an  assurance  that  his  course  as  the  herald  of  Christ  was 
now  completed  by  his  appearance.  (3.)  Tliat  some  token 
might  be  given  that  he  was  indeed  the  anointed  of  God. 
Dr.  Dale  thinks  that  it  was  a  public  and  official  announce- 
ment of  his  entrance  upon  the  work  of  fulfilling  all  right- 
eousness. He  strenuously  denies  that  Jesus  was  baptized 
with  the  baptism  of  John.  "It  is  one  thing  to  be  bap- 
tized by  John  and  quite  another  to  receive  the  '  baptism  of 
John.'  The  'baptism  of  John'  was  for  sinners, demanding 
'  repentance,'  '  fruits  meet  for  repentance,'  and  promising 
*  the  remission  of  sins.'  But  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  a  sinner,  could  not  repent  of  sin,  could  not  bring  forth 
fruit  meet  for  repentance  on  account  of  sin,  could  not 
receive  the  remission  of  sin.  Therefore,  the  reception  of 
*In  Smith's  Bib.  Diet,  article,  "Jesus." 


248  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Paut  X. 

the  'baptism  of  John'  by  Jesus  is  impossible,  untrue,  and 
absurd."  But  this  baptism  v»^as  his  inauguration  into  the 
office  of  fulfilling  all  righteousness.  "No  one  could  share 
in  such  an  inauguration  with  a  fitness  comparable  with 
that  of  the  great  Forerunner.  And  to  this  fitness  of  rela- 
tionship, reference  is  had  in  the  words — 'Thus  it  becometli 
us.'  'Thus,',  by  baptism,  'us,'  administered  by  thee,  my 
Forerunner,  to  me  the  Coming  One  proclaimed  by  thee; 
'now,'  entering  upon  my  covenant  work,  which  I  now 
declare  and  am  ready  to  begin, — 'to  fulfill  all  righteous- 
ness.' Can  there  be,  in  view  of  the  pei^sons,  the  time,  and 
the  circumstances,  any  other  satisfactory  interpretation  of 
these  great  words?"* 

According  to  another  theory,  it  is  held  that  as  the  con- 
secration of  Aaron  was  by  baptism,  anointing,  and  sacrifice, 
so  all  these  were  realized  in  the  priestly  consecration  of 
Jesus.  First,  He  was  baptized  by  John.  Then,  the  heav- 
ens were  opened  unto  Him,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  de- 
scended upon  Him,  and  He  was  thus  "anointed  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  power."  The  sacrifice  Was  not  till 
the  end  of  His  earthly  ministry,  wdien  he  offered  up 
Himself 

This  latter  is  perhaps  the  most  commonly  received 
theory  on  the  subject.  And  yet,  a  more  perplexing  and 
unsatisfactory  exposition  could  hardly  be  devised.  Accord- 
ing to  it  Christ's  consecration  to  the  priesthood  was  a  con- 
fused imitation  of  that  of  Aaron,  was  partly  ritual  without 
meaning,  and  partly  real,  and  took  place,  part  of  it  in  the 
beginning  of  his  public  ministry,  and  part  at  its  close,  so 
that  until  his  very  death  his  priesthood  was  inchoate  and 
incomplete.  Upon  this  explanation,  the  baptism  of  Jesus 
was  a  mere  unmeaning  form,  in  supposed  imitation  of  some- 
thing in  the  consecration  of  Aaron.  But  Aaron  and  his 
consecration  and  priesthood  were,  in  every  part  and  aspect 
of  them,  figures  of  the  true, — of  the  realities  which  are  in 

*  Dale's  Christie  Baptism,  pp.  27,  29. 


Sec.  LVIII.]  HIS  BAPTISM  BY  JOHN.  249 

Christ.  Aaron's  anointing  is  admitted  to  have  been  a 
symbol  of  the  real  anointing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  shed  npou 
Jesus.  The  sacrifices  offered  at  the  consecration  of  Aaron, 
although  by  this  theory  misconceived,  are  so  far  correctly 
spoken  of  as  that  their  fulfillment  was  had  in  Christ's  one 
offering  of  himself  What  then  could  be  meant  by  Aaron's 
so  called  baptism,  if  its  antitype  is  to  be  found  in  the 
ritual  baptism  of  the  Lord  Jesus?  One  rite  representing 
and  setting  forth  another,  which  is  nothing  but  a  defective 
imitation  of  the  first ! 

In  fact,  the  washing  of  Aaron  by  Moses  was  not  a 
sacramental  baptism  at  all — a  rite,  that  is,  by  which  bless- 
ings of  grace  are  represented  and  sealed  to  the  recipient. 
It  was  as  we  have  already  explained  a  symbolical  act  set- 
ting forth  the  endowment  of  the  Lord  Jesus  by  the  Father 
with  a  sinless  humanity. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  this  washing  of  Aaron,  that  ref- 
erence is  usually  made  by  the  exponents  of  this  theory. 
It  is  said  that  the  priests  entered  upon  their  official  duties 
at  thirty  years  of  age,  and  were  then  set  apart  by  baptism, 
and  that  hence  Jesus,  when  "  he  began  to  be  about  thirty 
years  of  a^e,"  came  to  be  baptized,  and  enter  upon  his 
official  work;  and  reference  is  made  to  Num.  iv,  3;  viii,  7. 
But  the  places  thus  referred  to  are  directions  respecting 
the  Levites,  the  priest's  servants,  and  not  concerning  the 
priests  at  all.  Moreover,  twenty-five  years  was  the  ordi- 
nary age  of  entrance  upon  the  Levitical  service.  (Num. 
viii,  24.)  The  age  of  thirty  seems  to  have  been  prescribed 
with  reference  to  the  special  labor  and  responsibility  inci- 
dent to  the  carrying  of  the  tabernacle  and  its  furniture 
from  place  to  place,  during  the  sojourn  in  tlie  wilderness. 
(See  the  whole  of  Num.  iv.)  Upon  such  slender  founda- 
tions are  theories  built.  The  law  set  no  limitation  to  the 
ages  of  the  priests.  The  rabbins  say  that  they  could  not 
enter  on  the  office  until  twenty  years  old.  But  Aristobulus 
the  son  of  Alexander  was  high  priest  when  less  than  sev- 


250  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Part  X- 

enteen  years  old/-!^  On  the  other  hand,  while  the  defini- 
tion as  to  the  Levites  was,  "from  thirty  years  old  and 
upward  even  until  fifty  years  old," — Eli  was  high  priest 
when  he  died  at  ninety-eight.     (1  Sam.  iv,  15.) 

Christ's  baptism  was  not  his  inauguration  to  the  priest- 
hood. His  priesthood  was  neither  Aaronic  nor  earthly. 
For  "  if  he  were  on  earth,  He  should  not  be  a  priest ;  see- 
ing that  there  are  priests  that  oflTer  gifts  according  to  the  law; 
who  serve  unto  the  example  and  shadow  of  heavenly 
things." — Heb.  viii,  4,  5.  If  any  part  of  the  ceremonial 
of  Aaron's  investiture  was  a  rule  of  conformity  to  Jesus, 
the  whole  of  it  was  equally  so.  But  he  was  made  a  priest, 
*'  not  after  the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,  but  after  the 
power  of  an  endless  life.  For  he  testifieth,  Thou  art  a 
priest  forever  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec." — Heb.  vii, 
16,  17.  Christ's  consecration  to  the  priesthood  and  exer- 
cise of  its  functions  belong  to  that  "  true  tabernacle  w^hich 
the  Lord  pitched  and  not  man." — Heb.  viii,  2.  He  was 
not  installed  by  human  hands.  *'  For  the  law  maketh  men 
high  priests  which  have  infirmity.  But  the  word  of  the 
oath  which  was  since  the  law,  maketh  the  Son,  who  is  con- 
secrated forevermore." — Heb.  vii,  28. 

Dr.  Dale  understands  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  above  place 
to  mean, — Thus  it  becomes  us,  by  a  united  and  public  act, 
to  announce  "  my  entering  upon  my  covenant  work  which 
I  now  declare,  and  am  ready  to  begin,  '  to  fulfill  all  right- 
eousness.' "  But,  in  the  first  place,  that  was  not  the  time 
of  Jesus'  entering  on  the  work  of  fulfilling  righteousness. 
Had  it  been  so,  it  was  too  late.  He  was  "  made  of  a 
woman,  made  under  the  law." — Gal.  iv,  4,  5.  From  the 
hour  of  his  birth,  he  was  fulfilling  righteousness, — in  the 
obedience  of  his  childhood,  as  truly  as  in  the  sufiEerings  of  the 
cross.  The  work  on  which  he  entered,  after  his  baptism  and 
anointing  by  the  Spirit,  was  his  prophetic  office,  in  which 
he  announced  and  oifered  himself  to  Israel  as  her  promised 

*Josephus'  Antiquities,  XV,  iii,  3. 


Skc.  LVIIL]  his  baptism  by  JOHN.  251 

King  and  Savior.  So  he  himself  testified  in  the  synagogue 
in  Nazareth.  (Luke  iv,  18-20.)  But  this  office  will  not 
fit  into  the  above  exposition.  Moreover,  it  would  seem 
that  if  any  words  can  express  the  idea  of  a  thing  done  as 
a  duty  of  righteousness  those  of  Jesus  do  so.  Dr.  Dale 
says, — "  It  can  not  be  claimed  that  the  Lord  Jesus  was 
under  obligation  to  undergo  this  baptism  as  a  part  of  '  all 
righteousness;*  (1)  Because  there  is  no  righteousness  in  it; 
(2)  Because  wdiat  there  is  in  it  is  just  what  he  did  not  come 
to  do.  He  did  not  come  to  repent  for  sinners,  nor  to  exer- 
cise faith  for  sinners."  The  latter  argument  has  the  fatal 
fault  that  it  proves  too  much.  Upon  the  same  ground  the 
Lord  Jesus  should  not  have  been  circumcised  or  purified 
with  his  mother.  He  should  not  have  kept  the  passover, 
nor  any  of  the  Levitical  feasts  and  ordinances.  All  these 
implied  and  required  in  others  a  state  of  heart  and  mind 
and  exercises  of  repentance  and  faith  which  were  foreign 
to  the  holy  nature  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

But  is  it  so  that  there  was  no  righteousness  to  be  ac- 
complished by  Jesus  in  complying  wdth  John's  baptism  ? 
The  answer  depends  wholly  upon  the  response  to  be  made 
to  the  question  which  Jesus  proposed  to  the  Pharisees, — 
"The  baptism  ot  John,  was  it  from  heaven;  or,  of  men?" 
If  from  heaven,  it  came  wdth  the  sanction  of  the  first 
clause  of  the  Sinai  covenant, — ''  If  ye  will  obey ;"  and  was 
entitled  to  obedience  from  every  soul.  John's  baptism, — 
Is  it  necessary  to  say  it? — washed  away  no  sin.  Like  all 
ritual  baptisms,  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  alike, 
it  aflfected  the  ritual  and  outward  status,  alone,  of  the  party, 
as  toward  the  church,  and  the  ordinances.  Moreover,  his 
ministry  was  not  addressed  to  the  ungodly  only.  But,  if 
there  were  any  of  the  people  still  looking  and  praying  for 
the  Consolation  of  Israel,  they,  as  much  as  others,  were 
called  upon,  as  being  defiled  by  the  contact  of  the  unclean 
nation,  to  receive  this  baptismal  seal  of  the  covenant  re- 
newed, and  their  acceptance  in  it  with  God.    Pre-eminently 


252  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Paut  X. 

was  it  true  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  he  was  defiled  by  contact 
with  the  sinful  nation.  To  ritual  uucleauuess,  he  was.  as 
liable  as  any  man,  and  became  thereby  subject  to  the  same 
obligation  of  ritual  purifying,  by  which  others  were  bound. 
Jesus,  therefore,  as  a  true  Israelite,  came  to  John's  baptism, 
as  being  an  ordinance  of  divine  authority  ;  and  in  his  answer 
to  John  indicates  the  fact  that  his  omission  of  the  duty 
thus  resting  on  him  as  "  made  under  the  law,"  would  have 
derogated  from  his  perfect  righteousness. 

Nor  is  this  all.  John  was  the  herald  of  Jesus  in  his 
distinctive  character  as  "  the  Angel  of  the  covenant," — the 
Mediator  of  that  "better  covenant"  which  was  enclosed  in 
the  outward  form  of  that  of  Sinai.  (2  Cor.  iii,  8-6.)  In 
that  better  covenant,  and  Christ  as  its  Surety,  all  the 
transactions  relating  to  the  Sinai  covenant  had  their  signi- 
ficance and  end ;  as  they  were  also  the  end  of  John's  min- 
istry. The  repentance  which  he  preached  was  a  call  to 
apostate  Israel  to  return  from  transgression  to  the  obedi- 
ence required  by  the  covenant,  and  his  baptism  was  a  seal 
to  its  promises,  upon  that  indispengable  condition  of  obedi- 
ence. In  coming  to  John's  baptism,  therefore,  Jesus  for- 
mally and  publicly  came  under  the  bond  of  the  covenant 
for  obedience,  and  thus  presented  himself  to  Israel  as  her 
Surety  therein.  The  baptism  which  he  received  from  John 
sealed  to  him  its  promises  on  condition  of  his  obedience, 
and  the  descending  Spirit  and  the  voice  from  heaven  an- 
nounced the  Father's  approval  and  acceptance  of  him  as 
Surety  for  his  people,  the  true  Israel  of  God.  It  was  with 
a  view  to  this  ofifice  of  Christ  as  the  Messenger  and  Surety 
of  the  covenant,  and  to  his  own  relation  as  the  herald  of 
Christ  in  that  capacity,  that  John  says,  "That  he  should 
be  made  manifest  to  Israel,  therefore  am  I  come  baptizing 
with  w^ater;" — John  i,  31 — that  he  should  be  made  man- 
ifest to  Israel,  as  her  covenant  Surety  and  King ;  as  the 
Lamb  of  God  and  King  of  Israel. 

The  distinction  drawn  between  "  the  baptism  of  John" 


Sec  .  L  VI 1 1 .  ]  H/S  BAPTISM  B  Y  JOHN.  253 

and  ''baptism  hj  John,"  overlooks  the  profouuder  aspects 
of  the  subject  liere  indicated.  It  is  true  that  John's  bap- 
tism addressed  to  sinners  a  call  to  repentance,  and  an- 
nounced remission,  on  that  condition.  But  this  special 
form  of  its  message,  is  no  more  than  the  call  to  obedience, 
in  terms  adapted  to  the  particular  case  of  transgressors. 
And  the  significance  and  propriety  of  the  baptism  depended 
upon  its  own  essential  meaning  as  heretofore  unfolded.  lu 
the  Levitical  institutions,  the  ordinary  form  of  the  rite  had 
its  primary  relation,  as  we  have  seen,  to  a  ritual  unclean- 
ness  by  contact  with  the  dead,  which  symbolized  the  judi- 
cial defilement  of  the  Lord  Jesus  by  contact,  through  birth 
of  a  woman,  with  our  dead  nature,  and  his  consequent 
death  under  the  curse.  The  baptism  symbolized  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ,  and  of  his  people  with  him,  in  the  renewing 
of  their  souls,  and  the  final  quickening  and  rising  of  their 
bodies.  Both  of  these  are  identified  by  Paul  with  the  res- 
urrection of  Christ.  (Eph.  ii,  5;  and  i,  19-ii,  10;  Eom. 
vi,  2-5;  viii,  11,  etc.)  It  is  by  virtue  of  union  with  him, 
by  the  baptism  of  his  Spirit,  bestowed  upon  and  dwelling 
in  us,  that  we  are  enabled  to  "know  the  power  of  his 
resurrection"  (Phil,  iii,  10),  by  our  own  death  to  sin  and 
life  to  holiness.  This  was  the  signification  of  John's  bap- 
tism. To  the  Lord  Jesus  it  was  a  symbol  and  pledge  of 
his  own  triumph  over  the  exhausted  power  of  the  curse, 
in  his  resurrection ;  and  of  the  deliverance  of  his  people,  in 
him,  from  the  bondage  of  sin  and  death,  by  his  Spirit  be- 
stowed and  dwelling  in  them.  Through  this  they  receive 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins.  The  same  meaning  pre- 
cisely was  signified  and  sealed  to  the  people  by  their  be- 
lieving reception  of  the  same  rite. 

Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  Jesus,  as  being  the  Son  of  man, 
one  of  the  family  of  Israel,  was  as  much  bound  to  come  to 
the  baptism  which,  by  the  authority  of  God,  John  dis- 
pensed, as  he  was  to  obey  or  observe  any  part  of  the  law, 
ritual  or  moral ;  as  much  as  was  any  true  son  of  Israel. 


254  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Part  X. 

On  the  other  hand,  by  coming  and  receiving  that  baptism, 
he  announced  himself,  the  Surety  of  the  covenant  which  it 
sealed,  and  was  so  certified  and  accepted  by  John,  by  the 
descending  Spirit  and  by  the  Father's  voice. 

Section  LIX. — The  Anointing  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

The  Scriptures  inform  us  of  three  distinct  bestowals  of 
the  Spirit,  upon  the  Lord  Jesus,  by  the  Father.  The  first, 
was  that  whereby  he  was  begotten  through  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  his  humanity  so  invested  with  the  Spirit's  influences, 
as  to  be  born  and  live  in  perfect  holiness,  so  that  he  was 
designated  by  the  angel,  "that  holy  thing." — Luke  i,  35. 
The  second  was  the  anointing  bestowed  at  the  time  of  his 
baptism  by  John.  And  the  third  was  that  endowment  of  the 
Spirit,  which  was  conferred  on  him,  at  his  ascension  to  the 
throne.  The  intimate  relation  of  his  anointing  to  his  bap- 
tism by  John,  and  the  close  analogy  which  is  traceable 
between  baptism  and  anointing,  bring  the  latter  within  the 
purview  of  the  present  inquiry. 

Immediately  after  his  baptism,  as  he  was  praying,  "the 
heaven  Avas  opened,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  in  a 
bodily  shape  like  a  dove  upon  him,  and  a  voice  came  from 
heaven,  which  said.  Thou  art  my  beloved  son :  in  thee  I 
am  well  pleased." — Luke  iii,  21,  22.  The  Baptist  adds 
some  facts: — "I  saw  the  Spirit  descending  from  heaven 
hke  a  dove,  and  it  abode  upon  him.  And  I  knew  him 
not.  But  he  that  sent  me  to  baptize  with  w^ater,  the  same 
said  unto  me.  Upon  whom  thou  shalt  see  the  Spirit  de- 
scending and  remaining  on  him  the  same  is  he  which  bap- 
tizeth  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  I  saw  and  bare  record 
that  this  is  the  Son  of  God."— John  i,  32-34.  This 
anointing  of  the  Lord  Jesus  with  the  Holy  Spirit  fulfilled 
a  three-fold  purpose. 

1.  It  was  a  manifestation  to  Israel  of  the  long-expected 
Messiah, — a  confirmation  from  heaven  of  John's  testimonies 
respecting  him,  and  a  designation  of  him,  the  coming  One, 


Sec.  LIX.]  HIS  ANOINTING.  255 

as  being  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  From  tlie  whole  account 
given  in  the  first  chapter  of  John,  it  seems  evident  that 
the  Baptist  and  his  disciples  had  distinctly  in  mind  the 
language  of  the  second  Psalm,  which  determined  the  form 
of  their  conclusions,  deduced  from  the  scene  at  the  baptiz- 
ing. ''  Why  do  the  heathen  rage  .  .  .  against  the  Lord, 
and  against  his  Anointed  ?  .  .  .  Yet  have  I  set  my  King 
upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion.  I  will  declare  the  decree :  the 
Lord  hath  said  unto  me,  Thou  art  my  Son ;  this  day  have 
1  begotten  thee."  The  glorious  personage  here  announced 
is,  thus  designated  by  three  titles, — as  the  Lord's  Anointed, 
his  King,  and  his  Son.  It  was  as  herald  of  this  King  that 
John  came  preaching,  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  when, 
with  his  own  eyes  he  saw  the  anointing  Spirit  descend 
upon  Jesus,  he  identified  the  Anointed  with  the  Sou. 
He  saw  and  bare  record  "that  this  is  the  Sou  of  God." 
So,  John's  disciple  Andrew  says  to  his  brother  Peter,  "We 
have  found  the  Messias,  which  is,  being  interpreted,  the 
Christ," — the  Anointed.  Not  only  so,  but,  at  the  same 
time  and  by  the  same  token,  John  recognized  in  Jesus 
"  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world !"  Thus  fully,  by  this  anointing,  was  Jesus  certified 
to  Israel ;  and  therein  the  chief  intent  of  John's  ministry 
was  accomplished. 

2.  The  anointing  was  an  attestation  and  seal  to  him  of  the 
Father's  favor,  in  view  of  the  spotless  righteousness  of  his 
character  as  already  proved  in  the  life  which  he  had  lived, 
as  a  private  i^erson,  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth.  Of  his 
earlier  youth,  it  is  said  that  he  "increased  in  wisdom  and 
stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man." — Luke  ii,  52. 
And  now,  in  the  fulness  of  his  manhood,  in  connection 
with  his  anointing,  a  voice  from  heaven  testifies,  "This  is 
my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." — IMatt.  iii,  17. 
To  this,  the  Psalmist  refers  his  anointing.  "Thy  throne, 
O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever ;  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom 
is  a  right  sceptre.     Thou  lovcst  righteousness  and  hatest 


256  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Part  X. 

wickedness :  therefore  God,  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee 
with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows." — Psa.  xlv,  6,  7. 
"The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  strength"  (Xeh.  viii,  10), 
said  Nehemiah  to  Israel;  and  in  the  joy  of  his  Father's 
favor,  testified  in  the  anointing,  Jesus  fulfilled  his  ministry 
to  the  close. 

3.  It  was  his  endowment  for  the  prophetic  office,  as  he 
himself  testified  in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth.  "He 
found  the  place  where  it  was  written,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  the  re- 
covering of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that 
are  bruised.  .  .  .  And  he  began  to  say  unto  them.  This 
day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears." — Luke  iv,  18-21. 
From  the  same  source  he  derived  the  miraculous  powers, 
which  attested  his  word.  (Matt,  xii,  28.)  "  God  anointed 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  pow^r." — 
Acts  X,  38.  Of  the  relation  of  his  anointing  to  the  ful- 
fillment of  his  priestly  office,  in  view  of  which  John  called 
him  "the  Lamb  of  God,"  Paul  says  that  he  "through 
the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God." — 
Heb.  ix,  14.  His  anointing  was  not  his  consecration  to 
the  priesthood,  but  his  endowment  with  grace,  by  which 
he  was  qualified  to  perform  that  priesthood,  to  prepare  and 
offer  an  unspotted,  sufficient  and  acceptable  sacrifice  on  the 
altar  of  justice.  And,  having  completed  that  work,  by  the 
same  Spirit  was  he  raised  from  the  dead.  (1  Pet.  iii,  18 ; 
Rom.  viii,  11.) 

Such  and  so  signal  was  the  meaning  and  intent  of  that 
fact  from  w^hich  Jesus  derived  the  name  of,  the  Christ.  Its 
close  relation  in  many  respects  to  the  doctrine  of  baptism,  is 
apparent.  As  to  the  question  of  mode,  a  few  points  may 
here  be  noted. 

1.  In  it  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given  to  the  Lord  Jesus, 
as  an  indwelling  fountain  of  all  gifts  for  his  ministry. 


Sec.  LX.]  ''  THAT  I  AM  BAPTIZED   WITH."  257 

2.  It  came  by  a  descent  from  the  opened  heavens. 

3.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  dove, — beautiful  symbol  of 
the  kindness  of  God,  and  the  ''meekness  and  gentleness," 
the  "grace  and  truth"  of  the  Lord  Jesus! 

4.  It  abode  on  him. 

5.  As  the  result,  he  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit 
(Luke  iv,  1),  brought  under  his  active  control  and  guid- 
ance, and  endowed  with  his  extraordinary  gifts,  for  the 
fulfillment  of  his  ministry. 

6.  The  symbol  which  by  divine  appointment  represented 
it  was  the  pouring  of  oil  upon  the  head  and  person.  (Lev. 
viii,  12,  30;  1  Sam.  x,  1;  xvi,  1,  13;  1  Kings  i,  34,  39; 
xix,  16 ;  2  Kings  ix,  G.) 

Section  LX. — "  J7t6  Baptism  that  I  am  Baptized  with." 

It  was  his  resurrection  from  the  dead.  We  have  seen 
that  the  Mosaic  baptism  was  a  symbol  and  seal  of  the  im- 
parting of  life  to  the  dead.  We  have  seen  it  so  referred 
to  by  Paul  in  his  argument  in  proof  of  the  resurrection. 
The  fact  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  Lord  Jesus  in  re- 
ceiving the  baptism  of  John,  not  only  fulfilled  the  law  of 
righteousness  as  a  faithful  Israelite,  but  received,  therein,  a 
symbol  and  seal  of  his  own  resurrection  and  triumph  over 
death  and  the  curse,  under  which  he  was  already  held. 
Twice,  in  the  course  of  his  ministry  as  reported  by  the 
evangelists,  did  Jesus  refer  to  his  resurrection  under  this 
figure  of  baptism.  Matthew  thus  records  one  of  these 
occasions,  "  Then  came  to  him  the  mother  of  Zebedee's 
chiklren  with  her  sons,  worshipping  him.  .  .  .  And  he 
said  unto  her.  What  wilt  thou?  She  saith  unto  him, 
Grant  that  these  my  two  sons  may  sit,  the  one  on  thy 
right  hand,  and  the  other  on  the  left,  in  thy  kingdom. 
But  Jesus  answered  and  said,  Ye  know  not  what  ye  ask. 
Are  ye  able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  shall  drink  of,  and 
to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with? 
They  say  unto  him.  We  are  able.     And  he  saith  unto 


258  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Part  X. 

them,  Ye  shall  drink  indeed  of  my  cup,  and  be  baptized 
with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with ;  but  to  sit  on 
my  right  hand,  and  on  my  left,  is  not  mine  to  give  {alX  hois 
etoimastai) ,  save  to  those  for  whom  it  is  prepared  of  my 
Father." — Matt,  xx,  20-23.  Luke  records  a  similar  ex- 
pression. "  I  am  come  to  send  fire  on  the  earth  ;  and  what 
will  I  if  it  be  already  kindled?  But  I  have  a  baptism  to 
be  baptized  with,  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  ac- 
complished !  Suppose  ye  that  I  am  come  to  give  peace  on 
earth?  I  tell  you,  nay;  but  rather  division.  For  from 
henceforth  there  shall  be  five  in  one  house  divided,  three 
against  two,  and  two  against  three.  The  father  shall  be 
divided  against  the  son,  and  the  son  against  the  father; 
the  mother  against  the  daughter,  and  the  daughter  against 
the  mother ;  the  mother  in  law  against  her  daughter  in  law, 
and  the  daughter  in  law  against  her  mother  in  law." — Luke 
xii,  49-53.  Of  these  expressions,  expositors  have  proposed 
two  interpretations.  According  to  one,  the  cup  and  the 
baptism  are  equivalent  figures  meaning  the  sufferings 
and  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Hence,  Baptist  expositors 
would  explain  it  as  an  immersion  in  sorrow;  but  they  do 
not  show  by  what  example  or  argument  the  word  ''bap- 
tism" can  be  made,  thus,  of  itself,  to  signify  such  an 
immersion.  A  conclusive  objection  lies  against  this  inter- 
pretation. In  both  the  gospels  the  distinction  between  the 
cup  and  the  baptism  is  carefully  preserved,  in  Christ's  original 
question,  and  in  his  rejoinder.  "Are  ye  able  to  drink  of 
the  cup  that  I  shall  drink  of,  and  to  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with?"  "Ye  shall  indeed 
drink  of  my  cup,  and  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I 
am  baptized  with."  It  can  not  be  admitted  that  a  second 
clause,  so  particular  and  detailed  in  statement,  and  so  care- 
fully repeated  in  the  rejoinder,  is  a  mere  blank,  adding 
nothing  to  the  meaning  already  expressed.  But  it  is  agreed 
that  the  figure  of  the  cup  indicates  all  that  suffering  by 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  made  atonement  for  our  sins. 


Sec.lx.]        '' that  I  am  baptized  witiv  259 

The  other  iuterpretation  proposed  is  but  a  modified 
form  of  that  here  given.  It  discriiiiiiiatcs  between  the  cup 
aud  the  baptism,  by  interpreting  the  hitter  of  Christ's  suf- 
ferings viewed  as  "consecrating  sufferings — sufferings  by 
which  he  was  to  be  separated  unto  God's  service  as  a  royal 
priest."  "That  the  reader  may  understand  how  Christ 
could  use  such  language  in  the  sense  which  we  give  it,  let 
him  consider  such  passages  of  Scripture  as  these:  'Unto 
him  that  loved  us  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own 
blood,  and  hath  made  us  king^  and  priests  unto  God  and 
his  Father,  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever  aud  ever, 
Amen.' — Rev.  i,  5,  6.  'And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  verily 
I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  which  have  followed  me,  in  the 
regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  on  tJie  throne 
of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging 
the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.'"— Matt,  xix,  28.* 

The  Scriptures  cited  by  this  respected  author  do  cer- 
tainly prove  that  the  royalty  and  priesthood  of  the  saints 
in  heaven  are  the  purchase  of  Christ's  blood  and  the  gifts 
of  his  love.  But  they  do  not  even  hint  at  the  idea,  much 
less  prove  it,  in  support  of  which  tliey  seem  to  be  cited ; 
to  v.'it,  that  the  sufferings  and  deatli  of  Christ  were  his 
consecration  to  the  priesthood.  On  the  contrary,  they  are 
in  harmony  with  all  the  Scriptures,  which  testify  that  those 
sufferings  were  an  offering  for  our  sins,  made  by  a  priest 
already  consecrated.  "For  every  high  priest  is  ordained 
to  offer  gifts  and  sacrifices:  wherefore  it  is  of  necessity  that 
this  man  have  somewhat  also  to  offer." — Heb.  viii,  3. 
Here,  it  appears  that,  inasmuch  as  he  was  a  priest,  he 
must  have  an  offering;  the  very  reverse  of  the  theory  that 
his  offering  was  in  order  to  his  consecration  to  the  priest- 
hood. This  man  who  by  the  word  of  the  oath,  was  con- 
secrated a  priest  forevermore,  needed  not,  like  those  priests 
to  enter  often  into  the  holy  place  with  blood.  "For  then 
must  he  often   have  suffered   since   the   foundation  of  the 

*  Armstrong  on  the  Sacraments,  pp.  48,  49. 


260  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Part  X. 

world/'  the  original  date  of  his  priesthood.  "But  now 
once  in  the  end  of  the  world  hath  he  appeared  to  put  away 
sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself." — Heb.  ix,  26.  Of  Christ's 
sufferings,  in  their  atoning  character,  the  Scriptures  are 
full  and  explicit.  And,  of  them,  the  cup  is  the  undoubted 
symbol.  But  of  "consecrating  sufferings,"  and  especially, 
of  such  contradistinguished  from  the  others,  as  here  sup- 
posed, we  fail  to  find  a  trace.  Is  it  asserted  that  although 
they  are  the  same  sufferings,  yet  are  they  viewed  in  a  dif- 
ferent light?  Still  the  distinction  is  without  warrant  in 
the  Scriptures.  But,  even  conceding  that  point,  can  it  be 
imagined  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  as  relating  to  James  and  John,  would  pause  upon 
and  emphasize  that  distinction,  by  separate  definitions,  re- 
quiring distinct  consideration  and  answer,  by  them,  when 
at  last  the  sufferings  in  question  were  one  and  the  same? 
Nothing  but  an  absolute  necessity  could  justify  such  an 
interpretation. 

In  order  to  a  right  solution  of  the  question  here  con- 
sidered, let  us  ascertain  what  were  the  facts  and  conditions 
necessarily  present  in  the  mind  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  mak- 
ing his  answer  to  James  and  John. 

1.  Their  application  immediately  followed,  and  was  no 
doubt  suggested  by  a  statement  made  by  our  Lord,  in 
reply  to  a  question  from  Peter.  Upon  occasion  of  the 
sorrowful  turning  away  of  the  young  ruler,  Peter  said  to 
Jesus,  "Behold  we  have  forsaken  all,  and  followed  thee; 
what  shall  we  have  therefore?  And  Jesus  said  unto  them, 
Verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  which  have  followed  me, 
in  the  regeneration,  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  in  the 
throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel." — Matt,  xix,  27,  28. 
Here  are  several  indications  of  the  time  of  enthrone- 
ment. (1.)  It  is  the  time  "when  the  Son  of  man  shall 
sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory."  This  phrase,  "the  throne 
of  his  glory,"  is   not   used  in   the   Scriptures  to   designate 


Sec.  LX.]  '' THAT  I  AM  BAPTIZED   WITH:'  261 

the  invisible  tliroue  of  majesty  and  power  in  the  heavens, 
now  occupied  by  the  Son  of  man ;  but  that  revelation  to 
men  of  his  glory,  of  which  he  said  to  his  disciples,  "  the 
Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  with 
his  angels." — Matt,  xvi,  27.  To  this  time  he  expressly 
refers  that  throne.  ''When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come 
in  his  glory  and  all  the  holy  angels  with  him,  then  shall 
he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory." — Matt,  xxv,  31.  So 
Paul  declares  that  the  Lord  Jesus  "shall  judge  the  quick 
and  the  dead  at  his  appearing  and  his  kingdom  f  and  in 
view  of  his  own  finished  course,  exults  in  the  fact  that, 
"Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness, which  the  Lord  the  righteous  Judge  shall  give  me  at 
that  day;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  uuto  all  them  also  that 
love  /lis  appearing.'' — 2  Tim.  iv,  1,  8.  (2.)  It  is  the  time 
of  the  judgment.  The  apostles  shall  sit  with  him,  judging 
the  tribes  of  Israel.  (3.)  It  is  the  period  of  "the  regene- 
ration." Some  expositors,  indeed,  refer  this  word  to  the 
preceding  clause,  which  they  read,  "  Ye  which,  in  the 
regeneration,  have  followed  me."  According  to  this  read- 
ing, the  regeneration  means,  the  introduction  of  the  gospel, 
as  being  the  beginning  of  a  new  life  to  the  world.  But 
others  understand,  by  it,  the  resurrection  of  the  saints 
which  precedes  the  final  judgment  of  the  world.  Accord- 
ing to  this,  which  I  take  to  be  the  true  interpretation,  the 
resurrection  is  called  the  regeneration,  because,  in  it,  the 
quickening  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  first  experienced,  in 
the  renewing  of  the  souls  of  believers,  and  in  making  their 
bodies  his  temples,  will  then  take  full  possession  of  the 
whole  man,  quickening  and  transforming  our  vile  bodies 
into  the  likeness  of  Christ's  glorious  body,  and  reuniting 
soul  and  body  in  glory.  In  like  manner,  and  at  the  same 
time,  the  work  of  "  restitution  of  all  things,  which  God 
hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets  since 
the  world  began"  (Acts  iii,  21),  will  be  accomplished. 
Beginning,  as  it  does  in  the  spiritual  world,  in  the  preaching 


262  THE  BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Pakt  X. 

and  triumphs  of  the  gospel,  it  will  be  cousuramate  iu  the 
regeneration  of  the  physical  system,  iu  the  new  creation, 
the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth.  That  the  thrones 
promised  to  the  apostles  could  only  be  possessed  after  the 
resurrection,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that,  physical  death 
being  an  element  of  the  curse,  the  blessedness  of  the  saints 
may,  indeed,  be  unspeakable,  even  in  a  disembodied  state ; 
but  there  can  be  no  properly  royal  triumph,  so  long  as 
the  bodies  are  in  the  bonds  of  corruption  and  the  grave. 

2.  While  the  time  of  the  kingdom  of  the  saints  is  thus 
clearly  defined,  there  are  also  certain  conditions  precedent, 
revealed  with  equal  clearness  and  emphasis.  "Ye  which 
have  followed  me,"  says  Jesus.  Elsewhere  he  explains 
more  fully.  ''  He  that  taketh  not  his  cross,  and  folio weth 
after  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me.  He  that  findeth  his  life 
shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall 
find  it."— Matt,  x,  38,  39.  The  following  must  be  a  bear- 
ing of  the  cross,  with  the  life  in  the  hand.  A  pertinent 
illustration  appears  in  the  life  of  the  apostle  Paul.  He 
thus  states  the  motives  and  policy  which  governed  his 
course. — "  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things,  .  .  .  that 
I  may  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him ;  .  .  .  that  I  may 
know  him  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection  and  the  fel- 
lowship of  his  sufferings,  being  made  conformable  imto  his 
death,  if  by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead."— Phil,  iii,  8-11.  Paul's  meaning  in  the 
phrase  to  "know  the  powder  of  his  resurrection,"  elsewhere 
appears.  He  prays  for  his  readers,  that  they  "  may 
know," — that  is,  may  realize  by  a  blessed  experience, — 
"  what  is  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to  usward 
who  believe,  according  to  the  working  of  his  mighty  power 
which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the 
dead  and  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly 
places.  .  .  .  And  you  hath  he  quickened  who  were  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins,  .  .  .  together  wath  Christ,  .  .  . 
and  hath  raised  us  up  together." — Eph.  i,  16-20 ;  ii,  1,  5,  6. 


Skc.  LX.]  *' Til  A  7' I  AM  BAPTIZED   WITH."  263 

lu  another  place,  Paul,  in  view  of  his  finished  course 
and  assured  reward  raises  the  triumphaut  shout, — "  I  have 
fought  a  good  fight !  I  have  finished  my  course !  I  have 
kept  the  faith?  Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  nie  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  tlie  Lord  the  righteous  judge, 
shall  give  me  at  that  day;" — the  day,  to  wit,  of  "his  ap- 
pearing and  kingdom." — 2  Tim.  iv,  1,  7,  8. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  time  of  the  kingdom  is  the  res- 
urrection ; — and  that  the  condition  of  its  possession  is  not 
physical  sufteriugs  and  death,  which  are  common  to  all 
men;  but  a  conformity  to  Christ's  sufferings  and  death, 
by  being,  in  him,  crucified  and  dead  to  the  world.  With 
this  condition  is  inseparably  identified  the  possession  of  a 
part  in  the  resurrection  and  life  of  Christ.  "  If  we  be  dead 
with  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  shall  also  live  with  him." — 
Rom.  vi,  8.  "I  am  crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless  I 
live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me." — Gal.  ii,  20.  We 
can  be  dead  with  Christ,  dead  to  sin  and  the  world,  only 
by  being  alive  to  God. 

Not  only  is  the  resurrection  of  the  saints  the  time  of 
their  kingdom,  but  worthiness  of  part  in  the  resurrection  is 
stated  with  emphasis,  as  the  final  and  conclusive  condition 
precedent  to  the  throne.  "They,"  says  Jesus,  "which 
shall  be  accounted  worthy  to  obtain  that  world  and  the  res- 
urrection of  the  dead." — Luke  xx,  35.  "If,  by  any 
means,"  says  Paul,  "  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead."  Herein  is  the  propriety  of  the  form  of  the 
question  put  by  Jesus  to  the  two  brethren  : — "  Can  ye  .  .  . 
be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with  ?" 
That  is,  "  Are  ye  ready  to  endure  and  to  do  all  that  will 
be  required  of  those  who  would  be  counted  worthy  of  that 
world ,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ?" 

3.  The  same  word  (palingenesia)  regeneration,  which 
Jesus  employs,  is  used  by  Paul,  who  describes  God's 
mercy  as  saving  us,  "  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and 
renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on   us  al)un- 


2G4  THE- BAPTISMS  OF  CHRIST.  [Paut  X. 

(lantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Savior." — Titus  iii,  5,  6. 
It  is  the  very  grace,  therefore,  of  which,  under  the  Old 
Testameut  as  well  as  the  New,  baptism  with  water  was 
the  appointed  symbol  and  seal.  And  particularly  was  it 
true  of  the  sprinkling  of  the  water  of  separation,  that  it 
symbolized  the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  on  the 
third  day,  and  of  his  people  on  the  seventh,  the  day  of  the 
Lord.  Add  to  these  considerations  the  fact  that  from 
the  time  of  his  tour  in  the  region  of  Csesarea  Philippi, 
where  he  Avas  transfigured,  Jesus  had  been  earnestly  en- 
deavoring to  impress  on  the  reluctant  minds  of  the  apostles 
the  fact  that  "  he  must  go  unto  Jerusalem,  and  suffer 
many  things  of  the  elders  and  chief  priests,  and  scribes, 
and  be  killed  and  be  rahed  again  the  third  day.'' — Matt. 
xvi,  2L  We  have  already  seen  that  Jesus  and  the  apos- 
tles distinctly  recognized  and  referred  to  the  third  day's 
baptism  with  the  sprinkled  water  of  separation  as  being  a 
prophecy  the  fulfillment  of  which  required  his  rising  from 
the  dead  on  the  third  day.  "These  are  the  words  which 
I  spake  unto  you,  while  I  Avas  yet  with  you,  that  all  things 
must  be  fulfilled  which  were  written  in  the  law  of  Hoses, 
and  in  the  prophets  and  in  the  Psalms  concerning  me.  .  .  . 
Thus  it  is  written  and  thus  it  behooved  Christ  to  suflfer,  and 
to  rise  from  tJis  dead  the  third  day." — Luke  xxiv,  44-46.  In 
the  law  of  Moses,  concerning  the  water  of  separation,  and 
there  only  is  the  third  day  thus  defined-.* 

The  points  suggested  in  these  considerations  are  inti- 
mately and  inseparably  related  to  the  matter  involved  in 
the  petition  of  James  and  John.  They  are  constantly  so 
treated  by  the  Lord  Jesus  himself,  in  his  personal  teach- 
ings, and  by  his  Spirit  in  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. And  yet,  we  are  to  suppose  that,  in  his  response  to 
the  brethren,  Jesus  absolutely  ignored  all  this,  wdiich  he 
had,  just  before,  emphasized  in  his  rej^ly  to  Peter;  and 
that    he    directed  their  attention   solely   to   the   sufferings 

*  See  above,  p.  100. 


Sec.  LX.]  ''  THAT  I  AM  BAPTIZED   WITH."  265 

which  he  was  to  endure,  and  in  which  they  were  to  share ! 
The  alternative  is,  that  on  the  contrary  he  referred  to  bap- 
tism, in  the  meaning  in  which  unquestionably  it  was  used 
throughout  the  Old  Testament,  as  a  type  and  figure  of  the 
resurrection,  and  thus,  by  that  single  word,  suggested  all 
that  was  involved  in  the  vastly  important  considerations 
above  mentioned,  as  connected  with  the  subject. — "Ye 
know  not  what  ye  ask.  Ye  neither  appreciate  the  true 
nature  of  the  honors  which  ye  seek,  nor  the  time  and  cir- 
cumstances of  their  enjoyment,  nor  consider  the  conditions 
precedent.  Are  ye  able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  shall 
drink  of, — the  cup  of  the  crucifixion  of  the  flesh  and 
the  world ;  and  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am 
baptized  with,  doing  and  enduring  all  that  is  involved  in 
attaining  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ?  For  it  is  not 
till  the  resurrection  that  the  thrones  which  you  seek  can 
be  possessed ;  and  only  by  those  who  are  found  worthy  of 
that  world  and  of  the  resurrection." 

That  such  was  the  meaning  of  our  Savior  would  seem 
to  be  certain.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  words  already 
cited  from  Luke  xii,  49-53.  "I  have  a  baptism  to  be 
baptized  with,  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accom- 
plished." The  matter  present  to  the  mind  of  Jesus,  as  the 
occasion  of  this  utterance,  was  that  discrimination  which  he 
was  to  exercise  and  separation  which  he  was  to  make,  in 
purging  his  floor  and  dividing  between  the  wheat  and  the 
chaff*,  bringing  division  into  families  and  dissolving  the 
closest  and  tenderest  ties.  It  is  of  this  that  he  says,  *'I 
am  come  to  send  fire  on  the  earth  ;  and  what  will  I  if  it 
be  already  kindled?"  That  is.  Why  should  I  wish  to  re- 
strain it?  "But  I  have  a  baptism;  .  .  .  and  how  am  I 
straitened !"  He  thus  indicates  a  straitening  of  the  full 
exercise  of  that  function  which  he  has  just  described.  The 
cause  of  it  is  an  unaccomplished  baptism.  What  then 
were  the  facts  out  of  which  this  language  is  to  be  explained  ? 
(1.)  Christ  was  under  judicial  condemnation  for  us  from 

23 


266  THE  BAPTISMS  CF  CHRIST.  [Part  X. 

liis  birth,  under  the  curse  and  sentence  of  death.  (2.)  AVhile 
in  that  condition,  a  servant  to  the  law  and  the  curse,  he 
could  not  fully  exercise  the  prerogatives  proper  to  his  roy- 
alty. (3.)  Especially  must  his  office  as  personally  the 
Baptizer  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire, — as  the  dis- 
penser of  grace  to  his  people  and  wrath  to  his  enemies, — 
be  in  abeyance,  till  his  resurrection  and  assumption  of  the 
throne.  Thus,  he  was  from  the  beginning  straitened  and 
looking  forward  to  his  resurrection  as  the  time  and  means  of 
his  enlargement.  And,  hence  his  saying, — "  I  have  a  bap- 
tism." That  baptism  was  the  bestowal  upon  him,  by  the 
Father,  of  the  Spirit  of  life,  raising  him  from  the  dead  to 
the  throne,  whence  he  now  dispenses  grace  and  judgment 
to  the  world. 


Sec.  LXI.]         KINGDOM  OF  THE  SON  OF  MAN.  267 


Part  XI. 

CHRIST  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER. 

Section  LXI. — The  Kingdom  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

THE  phrases,  "  the  kingdom,"  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 
etc.,  have  primary  reference  to  that  throne  and  king- 
dom to  which  the  Lord  Jesus  was  exalted,  when  he  rose 
from  the  dead,  and  was  set  at  the  Father's  right  hand.  It 
is  that  miUtant  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  man,  the  establish- 
ment of  which  Daniel  saw  in  vision ;  the  law  of  which  is, 
**  conquering  and  to  conquer"  (Rev.  vi,  2);  and  the  history 
of  which  is  that  '*  he  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  ene- 
mies under  his  feet." — 1  Cor.  xv,  25.  The  phrase  is  some- 
times used  to  express  the  efficiency  of  Christ's  saving 
sceptre  in  the  hearts  of  believers,  as  when  Jesus  says, — 
**  The  kiugdom  of  God  is  within  you." — Luke  xvii,  21.  It 
is  applied  to  the  visible  church,  as  being  that  society  which 
by  public  covenant  and  profession  owns  Christ  as  her  King 
and  his  Word  as  her  supreme  law.  So,  it  is  used  to  desig- 
nate the  millennial  dispensation,  when  "  the  Lord  shall  be 
King  over  all  the  earth,"  when  "  there  shall  be  one  Lord, 
and  his  nafme  one." — Zech.  xiv,  9.  Its  duration  is  by  Paul 
said  to  be,  until  "  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all 
authority  and  power.  For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put 
all  enemies  under  his  feet."  "  Then  cometh  the  end, 
when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even 
the  Father."—!  Cor.  xv,  24-28.  Of  this  end  and  cliange 
of  administration  Jesus  says,  "Then  shall  the  righteous 
shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father." — 
Matt,  xiii,  43.     Of  it,  he  teaches  us  to  pray, — "  Thy  king- 


268  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Paut  XL 

Thus,  in  all  tlie  variety  of  coDnection  in  which  it  occurs, 
the  phrase  in  question  derives  its  propriety  and  significance 
from  that  dominion  with  which  man  was  endowed  in  his  crea- 
tion, that  royalty  which  is  enjoyed  in  the  throne  and  sceptre 
of  the  Son  of  man, — its  authority  that  of  God  the  Father, — 
its  extent  the  whole  universe  of  God, — its  object  the  manifes- 
tation of  the  glory  of  the  divine  perfections,  and  the  recti- 
fying of  the  disorders  introduced  by  Satan, — and  its  end, 
that  work  accomplished  and  the  sceptre  resigned  to  the 
Father,  "  that  God  may  be  all  in  all." 

His  coronation  and  kingdom  were  the  consummation  of 
triumph  for  the  Seed  of  the  woman;  toward  which,  from 
the  beginning,  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  ever  pointed  and 
hastened  Avith  ardent  desire.  Its  realization  begun  with 
the  ascension  and  the  day  of  Pentecost, — its  full  meaning 
of  grace,  of  wrath  and  of  glory,  will  only  then  be  fully 
realized  in  fruition,  in  that  day  when  the  mighty  angel 
shall,  with  uplifted  hand,  proclaim  the  end  of  the  mystery 
with  the  end  of  time.  Of  its  significance,  I  will  now 
attempt  an  indication. 

Sin  is,  in  its  very  existence,  an  insult  to  the  holiness 
and  sovereignty  of  God.  Its  unclean  and  evil  aspect  is  a 
disgust  and  abomination  in  his  sight,  and  a  pollution  and 
deformity  on  the  fair  face  of  his  creation.  In  its  first 
beginning  by  Satan,  it  was  an  immediate  assault  upon  the 
very  throne  in  heaven.  Its  introduction  into  the  world 
was  a  Satanic  device  to  mock  God's  proclaimed  purpose  of 
favor  to  man,  and  to  insult  His  love  by  rendering  its 
object  unworthy  of  His  regard,  and  loathsome  to  His  holi- 
ness. At  the  creation  of  man,  God  had  said,  "Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness,  and  let  them 
have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle  and  over  all  the  earth,  and 
over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth." — 
Gen.  i,  26.  In  the  eighth  Psalm,  this  decree  is  anew  re- 
hearsed.    (Psa.  viii,  4-8.)     Again,  in  the  epistle  to  the 


Skc.  lxl]      klxgdom  of  the  soy  of  man,  269 

Hebrews,  Paul  transcribes  it  from  the  Psalmist,  and  ex- 
pounds it.  "  For  unto  the  angels  liath  he  not  put  in  sub- 
jection the  world  to  come  whereof  we  speak.  But  one," 
that  is,  the  Psalmist,  "  in  a  certain  place  testified,  saying, 
What  is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him,  or  the  Son  of 
man  that  thou  visitest  him?  Thou  madest  him  a  little 
lower  than  the  angels;  thou  crownedst  him  with  glory  and 
honor,  and  didst  set  him  over  the  works  of  thy  hands; 
thou  hast  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet." — 
Heb.  ii,  5-8.  From  this  language  of  the  Psalmist,  Paul 
proceeds  to  argue  the  extent  of  the  dominion  thus  given 
to  man.  He  insists,  (1)  that  the  decree  is  unlimited.  *'In 
that  he  put  all  in  subjection  under  him,  he  left  nothing 
that  is  not  put  under  him ; "  (2)  that  man  does  not  now 
have  such  dominion.  '^Noiv,  we  see  not  yet  all  things  put 
under  him;"  (3)  that  the  decree  is  already  fulfilled  in  the 
throne  which  Christ  now  fills.  "But  we  see  Jesus  crowned 
with  glory  and  honor ; "  (4)  that  to  that  same  glory  the 
Father  is  now  "  bringing  many  sous,"  the  brethren  of 
Christ  and  co-heirs  with  him  of  the  kingdom.     Vs.  10. 

In  another  place,  Paul  completes  the  view,  in  this  di- 
rection. "For  he  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies 
under  his  feet.  The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is 
death.  For  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet.  But 
when  he  saith.  All  things  are  put  under  him,  it  is  manifest 
that  He  is  excepted  which  did  put  all  things  under  him." — 
1  Cor.  XV,  25-27.  It  is  a  legal  and  common  sense  rule  of 
interpretation,  as  to  deeds  of  grant  or  conveyance,  that  an 
exception  on  one  point  protes  tlie  intention  of  the  grant 
to  be  otherwise  unlimited.  So  it  is  here.  The  apostle,  in 
excepting  God  the  Father  from  the  grant  of  dominion  to 
the  Son  of  man,  leaves  all  else  in  the  universe  under  his 
subjection.  It  thus  appears  that,  in  the  decree  of  man's 
creation,  a  dominion  was  assigned  him  which  in  the  purpose 
of  God  comprehended  all  the  power  which  Jesus,  the  Sou 
of  man,  now  exercises,  over  the  whole  creation  of  God. 


270  THE  GREAT  DAPriZER.  [Paut  XL 

How  far  this  extent  of  the  purpose  of  God  was  under- 
stood by  Satan,  we  are  not  informed.  But  it  is  evident 
from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Scriptures  that  the  fulfilhuent 
of  this  decree  was  the  subject  on  which  the  serpent  joined 
issue  with  God,  in  the  seduction  of  our  first  parents,  and 
his  policy  toward  our  race.  The  issue  thus  on  trial  since 
the  foundation  of  the  world  is  this:  Shall  God  fulfill  his 
announced  purpose,  by  exalting  man  to  the  promised 
throne?  Shall  he,  thereby,  vindicate  his  own  wisdom,  sov- 
ereignty, truth,  and  grace,  and  reveal  and  glorify  all  his 
perfections?  Or,  shall  Satan  triumph  over  God  and  man, 
thwarting  God's  decree,  through  man's  ruin  and  bondage? 
Shall  he  succeed  in  the  impious  attempt  to  array  the  very 
attributes  of  God  against  each  other,  so  that  his  justice 
and  holiness  shall  forbid  the  performance  of  the  purpose 
which  his  sovereign  love  determined  and  his  wisdom  and 
truth  proclaimed?  This  has  been  the  problem  of  the  ages: 
This,  the  question  which  has  roused  intensest  interest  in  all 
heaven's  hosts,  "Which  things  the  angels  desire  to  look 
into." — 1  Pet.  i,  12.  This  is  the  key  to  the  fact,  that, 
amid  the  scenes  of  human  sin  and  ruin  which  fill  the 
pages  of  God's  word,  the  doctrine  of  the  kingdom  gradu- 
ally dominates  amid  the  gloom,  looming  up  into  proportions 
of  grandeur  which  overshadow  earth  and  heaven.  "I  be- 
held," says  Daniel,  "till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and 
the  Ancient  of  days  did  sit;  whose  garment  was  white  as 
snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool;  his 
throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning 
fire.  A  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  from  before 
him ;  thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  him,  and  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  Him.  ...  I  saw 
in  the  night  visions,  and  behold  one  like  the  Son  of  man 
came  with  the  clouds  of  heaven  and  came  to  the  Ancient 
of  days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before  him.  And 
there  was  given  him  dominion  and  glory  and  a  kingdom, 
that  all  people,  nations,  and   languages  should   serve  him. 


Sec.  LXI.]        KINGDOM  OF  THE  SON  OF  MAN.  271 

His  domiuion  is  an  everlasting  dominion,  which  shall  not 
pass  away,  and  his  kingdom  that  which  shall  not  be 
destroyed." — Dan.  vii,  9-14. 

At  length,  the  fullness  of  time  drew  nigh  when  the 
mystery  of  the  ages  should  be  disclosed,  and  the  promised 
kingdom  given  to  the  Son  of  man.  John  came,  the  herald 
of  its  advent,  crying,  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand." — ^latt.  iii,  2.  Soon,  Jesus  himself  went  forth  ut- 
tering the  same  announcement,  "Kepent,  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  at  hand." — lb.  iv,  17,  23.  And  lest  his 
voice  should  fail  to  reach  every  ear,  he  shortly  sent  the 
twelve,  and  then  the  seventy,  to  fill  the  land  with  the  cry. 
"As  ye  go,  preach,  saying.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand." — lb.  x,  7;  Luke  x,  9. 

But  before  the  kingdom  could  be  established,  before 
the  Son  of  man  might  assume  the  crown,  there  was  a  work 
for  him  to  do.  That  crown  might  not  be  a  gift  of  God's 
arbitrary  grace — a  mere  assertion  of  purpose  unchanged. 
It  must  be  a  reward  of  manifest  and  glorious  merit.  Nay, 
not  even  so  is  it  to  be  a  gratuitous  endowment;  but  as  a 
trophy  won  by  battle  and  conquest  is  it  to  be  received  and 
worn.  The  Seed  of  the  woman — the  Son  of  man — must 
give  proof,  in  presence  of  all  intelligences,  both  holy  and 
apostate,  of  his  worthiness  of  that  favor  which  God,  from 
the  beginning,  so  openly  bestowed.  He  must  display  the 
mystery  of  a  man  walking  in  the  flesh  among  men,  in  the 
glory  of  a  spotless  and  untarnished  righteousness,  amid 
the  reign  of  abounding  sin.  He  must  be  seen — this  glori- 
ous man — taking  upon  his  mighty  shoulders  the  vast  incu- 
bus of  the  curse,  with  which  Satan's  malicious  fraud  had 
burdened  the  world,  and  bearing  it  away  to  a  land  not 
inhabited.  He  must  meet  the  great  enemy  himself,  whose 
impious  challenge  has  raised  the  issue  of  the  fitness  of 
God's  choice,  and  man's  competence  to  reign — the  enemy 
who,  in  insolent  contempt  of  God's  purpose,  has  chosen 
this  earth  as  the  seat  of  his  own  empire,  and  here  usurped 


272  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

dominion  over  man.  He  must  subdue  Satan,  break  his 
scepter  and  lead  him  captive  in  the  train  of  his  triumph, 
before  he  may  claim  and  assume  the  kingdom  and  the 
glory. 

Satan  saw,  with  dread  the  coming  of  the  champion, 
and  proposed  a  compromise. — "Behold  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world  and  their  glory!  Do  homage  to  me,  and  all 
shall  be  thine !" — Matt,  iv,  8,  9.  It  needs  not  to  trace 
the  manner  of  the  triumphs  of  the  carpenter's  son,  ending 
in  the  resurrection  from  the  guarded  sepulcher,  and  ascen- 
sion to  the  throne  in  heaven.  As  the  time  of  the  kingdom 
came  to  be  immediately  at  hand,  he  entered  Jerusalem, 
amid  the  exultant  Hosannas  of  his  followers,  proclaiming 
him  the  King  of  Israel.  He  was  betrayed  and  brought  to 
the  council.  And  when  the  high-priest  adjured  him  whether 
he  was  the  Son  of  God,  his  answer,  w^hilst  attesting  that 
blessed  fact,  held  up  to  equal  prominence  his  ro^^alty  as 
the  Son  of  man. — "Thou  hast  said;  nevertheless,  I  say 
unto  you,  hereafter  shall  ye  see  the  8on  of  Man,  sitting  on 
the  right  hand  of  power  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven." — Matt,  xxvi,  63,  64.  And  so,  they  crucified 
him,  with  the  accusation  written  in  letters  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek  and  Latin, — "  The  King  of  the  Jetvs." 

He  had  already  foretold  his  apostles  that  they  should 
live  to  see  his  kingdom  established  with  power.  On  the 
morning  of  his  resurrection,  he  said  to  Mary,  "Touch  me 
not,  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father.  But  go  to 
my  brethren,  and  say  unto  them,  I  ascend  unto  my  Father 
and  your  Father,  and  to  my  God  and  your  God." — John 
XX,  17.  The  word,  "  I  ascend"  (properly,  "I  am  ascend- 
ing"), indicates  his  immediate  ascension  and  reception  of 
the  throne,  on  the  very  day  of  the  resurrection.  And  it  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  John  wdio  relates  this  does  not  men- 
tion that  subsequent  public  ascension  which  was  made  in 
the  presence  of  the  apostles,  as  Christ's  official  witnesses. 
He  had  already  recorded  the  essential  fact.    Between  these 


Skc.  LXIL]       CHRIST  ENTHRONED  BAPTIZE R.  273 

two  eveuts,  the  first  and  the  final  ascension,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  one  of  his  appearances  to  his  disciples,  he  expressly 
told  them  that  he  was  now  already  in  possession  of  the 
throne.  He  "  came  and  spake  unto  them,  saying.  All 
power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth." — Matt, 
xxviii,  17,  18.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Peter  testified  of 
the  supreme  authority  now  vested  in  Him.  "Let  all  the 
house  of  Israel  know  assuredly  that  God  hath  made  that 
same  Jesus  whom  ye  crucified,  both  lord  and  Christ." — 
Acts  ii,  86.  Paul  more  fully  states  the  extent  of  his  do- 
minion. God  "raised  him  from  the  dead  and  set  him  at 
his  own  right  hand  in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all 
principality,  and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and 
every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but  also 
in  that  which  is  to  come ;  and  hath  put  all  things  under 
his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  all  things  to 
the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fullness  of  him  that  fill- 
eth  all  in  all."— Eph.  i,  20-23. 

Section  LXH. — Christ  is  enthroned  as  the  Baptizer. 

The  announcement  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as 
King  was  made  to  the  Jews,  in  a  very  striking  and  im- 
pressive manner.  Clothed  in  sackcloth  of  hair  and  sub- 
sisting on  locusts  and  wild  honey,  John  came  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Judea,  crying  to  an  apostate  people, — "  Repent  ye ; 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand.  .  .  .  He  that  com- 
eth  after  me  is  mightier  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not 
worthy  to  bear.  He  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  fire ;  whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will 
thoroughly  purge  his  floor  and  gather  his  wheat  into  the 
garner,  but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff"  with  unquenchable 
fire."— Matt,  iii,  2-12.  The  baptizing  ofllice  of  Christ,  as 
thus  set  forth,  was  the  objective  point  toward  which  the 
Old  Testament  baptisms  directed  the  faith  and  hopes  of 
Israel ;  and  the  theme,  as  we  have  seen,  of  some  of  the 
most    exultant    strains    of    prophecy.      And    to    it,    the 


274  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

baptism  of  the  Christian  church  ever  looks  up  and 
testifies. 

The  intent  of  Christ's  enthronement  is  here  stated  to  be 
that  he  may  "  thoroughly  purge  his  floor."  So  Jesus  him- 
self explains  the  parable  of  the  tares.  ' '  The  Son  of  Man 
shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  shall  gather  out  of  his 
kingdom  all  things  that  offend  and  them  Avhich  do  iniq- 
uity ;  and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire." — Matt, 
xiii,  41,  42.  The  dimensions  of  his  kingdom,  to  be  thus 
purged,  we  have  seen  to  be  coextensive  with  the  universe 
of  God;  over  which  Paul  declares  that  "he  must  reign 
till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet." — 1  Cor.  xv, 
25.  The  same  apostle  further  states  that  "  it  pleased  the 
Father  that  in  Him  should  all  fullness  dwell ;  and  having 
made  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross,  by  him  to  rec- 
oncile all  things  unto  himself;  by, him,  whether  they  be 
things  in  earth,  or  things  in  heaven." — Col.  i,  19,  20. 

In  the  execution  of  a  work  so  vast  and  so  momentous, 
the  baptist  states  two  means  to  be  employed, — the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  baptism  of  fire.  By  the  one, 
Jesus  gathers  his  wheat  into  the  garner ;  by  the  other,  he 
will  burn  up  the  chaff.  We  will  first  consider  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

In  the  blessed  Triune  Godhead  there  is  one  nature,  one 
mind,  and  purpose,  and  will ;  so  that  all  concur,  equally, 
and  freely  in  the  eternal  origination  of  the  divine  plan,  and 
in  every  step  of  its  administrative  fulfillment.  Yet  is  there 
an  essential  and  native  order  of  precedence  and  operation 
clearly  traceable  in  the  Scriptures.  In  this  order,  the  Fa- 
ther is  the  first,  of  whom  the  Son  is  begotten,  and  from 
whom  the  Spirit  proceeds.  So,  in  the  executive  adminis- 
tration of  the  sacred  scheme,  there  is  an  order  of  prece- 
dence in  the  manifestation  of  the  Godhead,  revealed  with 
equal  clearness.  In  it,  the  Son  Avas  sent  by  the  Father  to 
humble  himself  under  the  law,  in  the  form  of  a  servant; 
and  he  so  performed  the  Father's  will  as  to  be  designated 


Sec.  LXII.]      CHRIST  ENTHRONED  BAPTIZER.  275 

by  him  "  my  righteous  servant." — Isa.  liii,  11.  In  it,  the 
Father  put  the  anointing  Spirit  upon  the  incarnate  Son. 
(Isa.  xhi,  1 ;  Matt,  xii,  18.)  And,  by  the  Spirit  thus  given, 
was  he  directed  in  his  entire  ministry,  until  he,  "  through 
the  eternal  Spirit,  offered  himself  without  spot  to  God,"  a 
sacrifice  for  sin.     (Heb.  ix,  14.) 

But,  upon  the  enthronement  of  the  Lord  Jesus  as  God's 
great  Baptizer,  there  was  a  change  in  this  order  of  adminis- 
tration. With  the  sceptre  and  kingdom  of  the  Father,  the 
dispensing  of  the  Spirit  was  given  to  the  Son  of  man.  In 
this  endowment,  two  great  ends  were  accomplished.  (1.)  As 
the  third  Person  of  the  Godhead  is  essentially  the  spiritus, 
or  breath,  of  the  Father  (2  Sam.  xxii,  16  ;  Job  iv,  9 ;  xxxii, 
8;  xxxiii,  4;  Matt.  x,.  20),  "which  proceedeth  from  the 
Father"  (John  xv,  26),  so  now,  being  given  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  mediatorially  subject  to  and  sent  forth  by  him, 
as  his  Spirit,  our  Savior  is  thus  constituted  a  likeness  and 
revelation  of  the  Father,  in  that  respect  also ;  as  he  is,  in 
being  robed  with  the  Father's  glory,  sitting  on  his  throne, 
and  swaying  his  sceptre.  This  was  signified  by  the  Lord 
Jesus,  when  he  came  to  the  disciples  after  his  resurrection, 
and  breathed  on  them,  saying,  "  Keceive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost."— John  xx,  22.  Thus,  "in  him  dwelleth  all  the 
fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily."— Col.  ii,  9.  (2.)  This  in- 
vestiture with  the  Spirit,  was  an  essential  qualification, 
without  which  it  w^as  impossible  that  the  Lord  Jesus  should 
have  fulfilled  the  work  assigned  him,  of  purging  the 
Father's  floor  and  gathering  the  wheat  into  his  garner. 
Among  the  Persons  of  the  Godhead,  it  is  the  office  of  the 
Spirit  to  be  the  author  and  source  of  life,  by  whom  only, 
therefore,  dead  souls  are  quickened  and  dead  bodies  raised 
to  life.  Hence,  Jesus,  in  announcing  his  prerogative  re- 
specting these  things,  attributes  it  to  the  gift  of  the  Spirit 
of  life  conferred  on  him  by  the  Father.  "The  Son  can 
do  nothing  of  himself,  but  wliat  he  seeth  the  Father  do : 
for  what   things  soever  He  doeth,   these   also  doeth    the 


276  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

Son  likewise.  .  .  .  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  up  the  dead 
and  quickeueth  them :  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom 
he  will.  For  the  Father  judge th  no  man,  but  hath  com- 
mitted all  judgment  unto  the  Son;  that  all  men  should 
honor  the  Son,  even  as  they  honor  the  Father.  .  .  .  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  The  hour  is  coming  and  now  is, 
when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  they  that  hear  shall  live.  For  as  the  Father  hath  life 
in  himself,  so  hath  he  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in  him- 
self; and  hath  given  him  authority  to  execute  judgment 
also,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man.'' — John  v,  19-27. 

In  his  last  discourse  with  his  disciples,  the  night  of  the 
betrayal,  Jesus  was  very  explicit  on  this  subject.  Fully  to 
appreciate  his  statements  on  that  occasion,  it  is  necessary 
to  keep  in  view  the  general  features  of  the  divine  economy 
which  were  about  to  culminate  in  Christ's  exaltation. 
Inasmuch  as  Satan,  in  his  insolent  scorn  of  the  human 
race,  sought,  through  its  weakness  and  ruin  to  cast  con- 
tempt upon  God,  and  to  involve  his  government  in  chaos. 
God  in  the  mystery  of  his  glorious  love,  saw  jBt,  in  honor 
of  the  human  race,  to  place  his  government  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  child  of  that  very  Avoman  whose  weakness 
Satan  betrayed,  and  to  appoint  him  to  redeem  her  and  her 
seed  from  the  usurper's  power,  and  avenge  her  wrong  upon 
the  betrayer's  head ;  and  ordained  him ,  because  he  is  the 
Son  of  man,  to  rectify  all  the  evil  that  Satan  has  done, — 
to  baptize  this  earth  and  yonder  heavens  from  the  defile- 
ment and  dishonor  that  he  has  wrought,  through  sin,  and 
to  **  reconcile  all  things  to  the  Father,  whether  they  be 
things  in  earth  or  things  in  heaven."  It  is  manifest  that 
in  the  fulfillment  of  such  a  plan,  the  Son  of  man  must 
take  actual  possession  of  the  scepter,  before  full  entrance 
can  be  made  upon  its  manifested  execution.  It  is  further 
to  be  remembered  that  the  entire  discourse  in  question  w^as 
addressed  to  the  apostles,  with  distinct  reference  to  their 
commission  and  qualification  to  proclaim  the  gospel  of  the 


Sec.  LXIL]       CHRIST  ENTHRONED  DAPTIZER.  277 

kingdom.  The  statements  and  promises  therein  contained 
do  not,  therefore,  have  immediate  respect  to  the  ordinary 
graces  of  the  Spirit,  in  the  hearers  of  the  word,  but  to  his 
comforting,  enhghtening  and  directing  influences  in  the 
apostle-witnesses. 

"  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another 
Comforter  that  he  may  abide  with  you  for  ever ;  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth.  .  .  .  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you, 
being  yet  present  with  you.  But  the  Comforter  which  is 
the  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name, 
he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your 
remembrance  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you.  .  .  .  When 
the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from 
the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth  which  proceedeth  from 
the  Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me.  ...  It  is  expedient  for 
you  that  I  go  away ;  for  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter 
will  not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  depart  I  will  send  him 
unto  you.  And  when  he  is  come,  he  will  reprove  the 
world  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  Of 
sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  me;  of  righteousness,  be- 
cause I  go  to  my  Father,  and  ye  see  me  no  more ;  of 
judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world  is  judged.  I 
have  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  can  not  bear 
them  now.  Howbeit  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come, 
he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth  ;  for  he  shall  not  speak  of 
himself;  but  whatsoever  he  shall  hear,  that  shall  he  speak, 
and  he  will  show  you  things  to  come.  He  shall  glorify 
me ;  for  he  shall  receive  of  mine  and  shall  show  it  unto 
you.  All  things  tliat  the  Father  hath  are  mine;  therefore 
said  I,  that  he  sliall  take  of  mine  and  shall  show  it  unto 
you."— John  xiv,  16,  17,  25,  26;  xv,  26;  xvi,  7-15. 

In  these  passages,  there  is  a  very  remarkable  order  of 
progress  in  the  statements  concerning  the  mission  of  the 
Spirit.  *'  I  will  pray  the  Fatlier,  and  'he  shall  give  you 
another  Comforter."  '■'■  The  Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Fatlier 
will  send  in  my  name."    '*  The  Comforter  whom  I  will  send 


278  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

unto  you  from  the  Father."  "If  I  go  not  away,  the  Com- 
forter will  not  come  unto  you :  but  if  I  depart  /  ivill  send 
him  unto  you."  As  the  Spirit  essentially  proceeds  from  the 
Father,  so,  primarily,  in  the  manifestation  of  the  Godhead, 
he  is  sent  forth  by  the  Father,  and  in  all  his  work  of  grace 
to  man,  is  sent  through  the  mediation  of  the  Sou.  Hence 
the  form  of  the  first  statement: — "  I  will  pray  the  Father, 
and  he  shall  give."  In  the  next  passage,  he  indicates  that 
whilst,  in  the  concurrence  of  the  Godhead,  the  Father  is 
the  primary  source  of  the  Spirit,  the  mission  spoken  of,  is 
in  the  name,  and  for  the  purposes  of  the  Son,  namely, — 
to  remind  the  apostles  of  his  words,  and  interpret  them  to 
their  understandings  and  hearts.  "  Whom  the  Father  will 
send  in  my  name," — that  is,  to  do  my  commission, — to 
utter  my  words.  In  the  next  clause  he  assumes  to  him- 
self and  asserts  the  prerogative  conferred  on  him,  and 
says, — "When  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will  seiid 
unto  you  from  the  Father."  And  since  the  mission  thus 
promised  was  to  be  a  testimony  on  his  own  behalf,  he  goes 
on  to  mark  that  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  is  that  of  the 
Father,  also,  since  essentially  and  eternally,  he  proceedeth 
from  and  is  the  Spirit  of  the  Father,  "  Even  the  Spirit 
of  truth  wdiicli  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify 
of  me ;  and  ye  also  shall  bear  witness  because  ye  have 
been  with  me  from  the  beginning."  Compare  John  v,  36 ; 
Heb.  ii,  4. 

Next,  since  the  triumphs  of  the  gospel  were  reserved 
to  honor  the  scepter  of  the  Son  of  man,  Jesus  declares 
that  he  must  ascend  to  heaven  and  assume  that  scepter, 
before  the  apostles  could  receive  the  gifts  which  would 
qualify  them  for  spreading  those  triumphs. — "If  I  go 
not  away  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you,  but, 
if  I  depart,  I  will  send  him  unto  you."  He  declares  the 
Spirit's  offices,  toward  the  w^orld  and  toward  them,  w^hom 
he  "the  Spirit  of  truth"  should  "guide  into  all  truth;" 
and  emphasizes  the  fact  that  in  fulfilling  these  offices,  he 


Sec.  LXIL]      CHRIST  ENTHRONED  BAPTIZER.  279 


will  act  strictly  as  an  interpreter.  Ciirist  is  the  Word 
of  God;  and  the  Spirit  sent  by  him,  "shall  not  speak 
of  himself;  but  whatsoever  he  shall  hear,  that  shall  he 
speak." — "  He  shall  glorify  me ;  for  he  shall  take  of  mine 
and  shall  shew  it  unto  you."  And  lest  the  unlimited  pur- 
port of  this  declaration  should  not  be  fully  appreciated,  he 
adds,  "All  things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine;  there- 
fore said  I  that  he  shall  take  of  mine  and  shall  show  it 
unto  you."  As  essentially  the  Father's,  but  given  to  the 
Son ; — such  is  tlie  aspect  in  which  the  Spirit  shall  reveal 
them  to  the  glory  of  the  Son. 

Such  were  the  testimonies  with  reference  to  which  Je- 
sus, after  his  resurrection,  commanded  his  apostles  to  "  wait 
for  the  promise  of  the  Father,  which  ye  have  heard  of  me. 
For  John  truly  baptized  with  water ;  but  ye  shall  be  bap- 
tized with  the  Holy  Ghost  not  many  days  hence." — Acts  i, 
4,  5.  Of  it,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Peter  said,  "Being 
by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  received  of 
the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  shed 
forth  this  which  ye  now  see  and  hear." — Acts  ii,  33.  What 
the  promise  was,  Peter,  here  distinctly  indicates.  It  was 
fulfilled  in  giving  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  that 
he  might  of  his  royal  prerogative  shed  down  that  Spirit 
upon  his  people. 

The  relation  thus  existing  between  the  enthroned  Me- 
diator and  the  Holy  Spirit,  was  very  remarkably  intimated 
by  Jesus  the  night  after  the  resurrection.  He  came  to  the 
assembled  disciples  with  the  salutation, — "  Peace  be  unto 
you :  as  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  And 
w^hen  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto 
them.  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost." — John  xx,  21,  22. 
Thus  by  anticipation,  he  interpreted  the  gift  of  Pentecost, 
as  an  imparting  to  them  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  was  now 
given  to  and  dwelt  in  him,  as  his  Spirit,  the  breath  of 
his  life. 

Dr.  Dale,  in  his  invaluable  treatises  has  overlooked  the 


280  THE  GREAT    BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

distinction  here  pointed  out,  between  the  endowment  of  the 
Spirit  which  Jesus  enjoyed  in  tlie  performance  of  his  earthly 
ministry,  and  that  which  belongs  to  him  as  Baptizer  on  the 
throne.  Discussing  John  i,  33, — which  he  translates, — 
'*  This  is  he  that  baptizeth  hy  the  Holy  Ghost,"  he  says, 
"  He  upon  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  and  on  whom 
he  remained,  '  without  measure'  was  thus  qualified  for  his 
amazing  work,  and  qualified  to  be  ['o  baptizon  en  Pneumati 
Agio']  the  Baptizer  who  was  himself  i/i  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  being  in  the  Holy  Ghost  was  thereby  invested  with 
power  to  baptize  by  the  Holy  Ghost. — The  Lord  Jesus 
Christ — 'o  baptizon  en  Pneumati  Agio, — is  '  the  Divine  bap- 
tizer, being  in  the  Holy  Ghost.'  .  .  .  The  passage  is  to  be 
understood  as  announcing  the  peculiar  character  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  baptizer.  This  is  done  by  exhibiting 
him  in  a  two-fold  aspect:  1.  As  being  personally  en  PneiL- 
mati  Agio.  2.  As  a  consequence  of  being  en  Pneumati 
Agio,  being  invested  with  the  power  of  baptizing  by  the 
Holy  Ghost."* —  In  another  place  he  says, — "  The  orig- 
inal author  of  this  baptism  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  the 
executive  Agent  is  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  giver  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  the  Father.  .  .  .  Does  not  the  Dative  and  en 
announce  the  Agent  in  whom  the  power  to  baptize  resides  ?"t 

1.  The  anointing  of  the  Lord  Jesus  at  his  baptism  did 
not  qualify  him  as  Baptizer.  Else,  neither  He  nor  the 
apostles  need  have  waited  ' '  for  the  promise  of  the  Father," 
which  was  fulfilled  at  the  ascension,  and  demonstrated  on 
Pentecost.     (See  Acts  i,  4 ;  ii,  33.) 

2.  As  the  water  is  the  immediate  efficient  cause  of  the 
cleansing,  in  washing,  so  the  Spirit  is  the  immediate  effi- 
cient cause  of  the  grace  wrought  in  the  spiritual  baptism. 
But  to  describe  him  as  the  executive  Agent  of  that  bap- 
tism, is  the  same  error  which  should  represent  the  water 
in  that  capacity,  in  ritual  baptism. 

3.  Jesus  was  "in  the  Spirit,"  that  is  under  the  perva- 

*  "  Christie  Baptism,"  pp.  53,  56,  57.        t  Ibid,  p.  76. 


Src.  lxiil]       procession  of  the  spirit.  281 

sive  influence  and  control  of  the  Spirit,  during  his  entire 
earthly  life.  But  it  was  precisely  herein  that  he  filled  the 
character  of  being  God's  "  righteous  servant." — Isa.  liii,  11. 
It  was  characteristic  of  his  humiliation,  to  be  thus  subor- 
dinate. But  upon  his  exaltation,  the  order  was  reversed. 
It  is  no  longer  Christ  in  the  Spirit,  fulfilling  the  service 
and  work  appointed  him.  But  it  is  the  Spirit  in  Christ, 
subject  to  his  control,  speaking  his  words  and  doing  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  Jesus,  the  Lord.  And  Jesus  does  not 
baptize  hy  the  Holy  Ghost  doing  it  for  Him,  but  ^^  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  as  his  Spirit  and  instrument;  as  he  so  clearly 
intimated,  when  he  breathed  upon  his  disciples  and  said, 
"  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Section  LXIII. — Note,  on  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

In  the  year  325,  the  council  of  Nice  condemned  the 
heresies  of  Arius  concerning  the  Son,  and  formulated  the 
orthodox  doctrine  on  the  subject  in  what  is  known  as  the 
Nicene  creed.  In  381,  the  council  of  Constantinople,  be- 
ing assembled  on  account  of  the  errors  of  Macedonius,  con- 
cerning the  Spirit,  inserted  into  the  Nicene  creed  a  state- 
ment of  doctrine  concerning  the  Third  Person,  in  which 
occurred  the  phrase,  "  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father." 
About  the  year,  434,  the  council  of  Ephesus,  being  the 
third  general  council,  as  the  before  mentioned  were  the 
first  and  second,  determined  that  no  further  addition  should 
be  made  to  this  creed.  Disregarding  this  decree,  and  with- 
out the  sanction  of  any  general  council,  the  western  or  Latin 
church,  about  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  silently  inter- 
polated the  formula  of  Constantinople,  so  as  to  make  it 
read, — "  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father  and  the  Son." 
The  resulting  controversies  became  one  cause  of  the  divis- 
ion between  the  Latin  and  Greek  churclies.  At  the  ref- 
ormation, the  Protestant  churches  generally,  without  dis- 
cussion, accepted  the  Romish  doctrine  on  the  subject,  and 

incorporated  it  into  their  doctrinal  formularies. 

24 


282  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

In  the  foregoing  discusssion  this  theory  is  ignored,  in 
favor  of  the  primitive  doctrine  ;  for  the  following  reasons  : 

1.  The  point  in  question  is  the  essential  and  eternal 
procession  of  the  Spirit.  If  there  is  one  Scripture,  referred 
to  by  any  writer,  or  contained  in  the  sacred  volume,  which 
even  seems  to  describe  %udi  procession  from  the  Son,  it 
has  not  been  my  privilege  to  meet  with  it,  in  the  course 
of  a  careful  and  long  continued  inquiry.  The  texts  usually 
cited  are,  all  of  them,  statements  explicitly  referring  to 
the  voluntary  and  temporal  mission  of  the  Spirit,  coming 
into  the  world ;  and  not  to  his  essential  procession,  which 
is  involuntary  and  eternal.  They  are  John  xv,  26;  xvi,  7:' 
Gal.  iv,  6.  "  When  the  Comforter  is  come  whom  I  will 
send  unto  you  from  the  Father." — "If  I  go  not  away,  the 
Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will 
send  him  unto  you."  "Because  ye  are  sons,  God  hath 
sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your  hearts,  crying, 
Abba,  Father."  Will  any  one  pretend  that  these  passages 
refer  to  the  eternal  procession? 

2.  The  language  in  which  Jesus  speaks  of  this  proces- 
sion as  being  from  the  Father  seems  designed  to  be  ade- 
quate and  exhaustive.  "When  the  Comforter  is  come, 
whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth  wliidi  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall 
testify  of  me." — John  xv,  26.  That  the  Father,  specifi- 
cally, is  the  one  essential  and  peculiar  source  x)f  the  Spirit, 
is  here  doubly  asserted,  by  the  phrase,  "  whom  I  will  send 
unto  jou  from  the  Father;"  and  by  the  further  expository 
statement,  "which  proceedeth  from  the  Father."  Should 
James  and  John  unite  in  writing  a  book,  any  one  who  in 
speaking  of  James  should  say  that  he  wrote  it,  would  be 
justly  chargeable  with  carelessness  of  statement.  But  if 
the  book  itself  and  its  authorship  and  origin  are  the  sub- 
ject of  discussion,  it  could  not  be  said,  with  any  regard  to 
truth  and  accuracy  that  "  This  book  was  written  by  James." 
And,  if  the  subject  of  the  book  were  the  life  of  John,  and 


Sec.  LXIIL]        PROCESSION  OF  THE  SPIRIT.  283 

the  statement  were  made  that  '*  This  book  was  written  by 
James,  and  gives  the  story  of  John's  life,"  the  omission, 
which  previously  might  perhaps  be  accounted  an  inadvert- 
ence, assumes  a  character  of  falsehood  and  deceit.  This, 
it  seems  to  me,  is  a  just  parallel  to  the  case  which  is  made 
by  the  insertion  of  the  filioque  clause,  making  the  proces- 
sion to  be  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  In  the  place  in 
question,  Jesus  is  speaking  expressly  of  the  Spirit,  whom 
he  describes  with  reference  to  his  qualification  to  be  a 
witness,  on  behalf  of  the  Son.  Had  the  whole  thought 
of  the  passage  been  concerning  the  Father,  and  in  describ- 
ing him  Jesus  had  said,  "From  him  proceedeth  the  Spirit," 
the  declaration  would  seem  scarcely  reconcilable  with  a 
coincident  procession  from  the  Sou.  But  when  the  Spirit, 
himself,  and  his  qualification  to  be  a  witness  on  behalf  of 
the  Son,  is  the  distinct  subject  of  discourse, — the  state- 
ment that  ''He  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  and  will  tes- 
tify of  me,"  utterly  excludes  a  like  procession  from  the 
Son.  This  conclusion  is  strengthened  by  the  remarkable 
language  on  the  same  subject,  uttered  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
upon  another  occasion.  "If  I  bear  v/itness  of  myself,  my 
witness  is  not  true.  There  is  another  that  beareth  witness 
of  me,  and  I  know  that  the  witness  which  he  witnesseth 
of  me  is  true.  .  .  .  The  works  which  the  Father  hath  given 
me  to  finish,  the  same  works  that  I  do  bear  witness  of  me 
that  the  Father  hath  sent  me."— John  v,  31-36.  Peter 
declares  that  "God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazaretli  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  power,  who  went  about  doing  good." — 
Acts  X,  38.  Jesus  here  expressly  certifies  that  the  testi- 
mony thus  by  the  Spirit  given  to  his  ministry  was  distinct- 
ively the  Father's  testimony  and  not  that  of  the  Son, — a 
statement  wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  supposition  that  the 
Spirit  of  witness  who  was  the  efficient  author  of  those 
miracles  proceeded  alike  from  the  Son  and  the  Father. 

3.  The  phrase, — "  wliicli  proceedeth  from  the  Father," — 
is    explanatory   of  the    language    immediately   preceding. 


284  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

"When  the  Comforter  is  come  whom  I  will  send  unto 
you  jrom  the  Father."  But  why  "from  the  Father,"  since 
it  is  Christ  that  sends  Him?  Why  not  "from  the  Father 
and  the  Son?"  Jesus  gives  the  reason, — "Which pvceedeth 
from  the  Father."  Either  this  indicates  something  peculiar 
and  exclusive,  or  words  are  without  meaning. 

4.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  voluntary  and  temporal  be- 
stowal of  the  Spirit  by  the  Father  upon  the  incarnate 
Son,  a  bestowal  in  virtue  of  which,  he,  as  the  Spirit  of  the 
Son,  is  by  the  Mediator  breathed  or  shed  upon  his  people. 
But  if  the  doctrine  in  question  is  true,  the  Spirit,  proceed- 
ing from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  sustains  essentially  and 
eternally  the  very  same  identical  relation  to  each,  and  it 
would  be  just  as  impossible  that  he  should  be  given  by  the 
Father  to  the  -Son,  as  on  the  contrary,  by  the  Son  to  the 
Father.  The  fact  that  he  is  given  to  the  Son  shows  con- 
clusively that  his  relation  to  the  Father  is  not  only  pri- 
mary, but  peculiar,  a  fact  which  is  the  express  contra- 
dictory of  the  theory  in  question.  In  fact,  by  that  theory 
the  voluntary,  temporal,  and  mediatorial  mission  of  the 
Spirit,  by  the  Son  as  incarnate,  is  necessarily  and  inextri- 
cably confounded  with  the  eternal  procession,  which  is 
essential  and  involuntary,  the  Scripture  testimony  on  the 
subject  is  distorted  and  set  at  naught,  and  the  whole  sub- 
ject involved  in  perplexity  and  confusion.  These  consid- 
erations, and  especially  the  fact  that  there  is  not  even  a 
plausible  pretense  of  Scriptural  authority  for  the  doctrine, 
lead  me  to  its  rejection. 

Section  LXIV.  —  The  Baptism  of  Fire. 

Christ's  baptizing  office  is  not  all  of  grace.  "He  shall 
baptize  you,"  says  John,  "with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
fire"  John  thus,  in  harmony  with  the  Old  Testament 
writers,  from  Moses  to  Malachi,  sets  forth  two  distinct 
functions  to  be  exercised  by  the  coming  One;  the  one,  of 
grace,  the  baptism  of  the   Holy  Ghost,  and  the  other,  of 


Skc.  lxiv.]  the  baptism  of  fire.  285 

justice  and  wrath,  the  baptism  of  fire.  As  this  interpre- 
tation of  John's  hmgiiage  is  denied,  and  the  two  baptisms 
interpreted  as  signifying  essentially  one  and  the  same 
thing,  it  is  necessary  to  consider  with  some  care  the  evi- 
dence on  the  subject. 

1.  John,  as  the  context  shows,  is  addressing  himself  in 
terms  of  earnest  admonition  to  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees, 
and  to  the  Jews,  as  infected  with  their  leaven.  (Compare 
Matt,  iii,  7,  and  Luke  iii,  7.)  He  warns  them  of  the  dis- 
crimination which  the  Lord  Jesus  was  about  to  use,  in  the 
purging  of  his  floor.  He  begins  with  the  expostulation, 
"O  generation  of  vipers,  who  hath  warned  you  to  flee 
from  the  ivrath  to  comef"  He  proceeds  to  indicate  that  the 
time  then  current  was  one  of  threatening  portent.  "And 
now  also  the  axe  is  laid  unto  the  root  of  the  trees."  The 
safety  of  the  righteous  he  leaves  to  silent  implication;  but 
emphasizes  the  doom  of  the  wicked, —  "Every  tree  which 
bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into 
the  fire."  He  then  modifies  the  figure,  with  reference  to  his 
own  baptizing  office.  "  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water.  .  .  . 
But  he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
fire ; "  and  lest  there  should  be  any  doubt,  as  to  his  mean- 
ing, he  completes  the  sentence  with  an  expository  detail, — 
"whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge 
his  floor,  and  gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner;  but  he 
will  burn  up^the  chaflf  with  unquenchable  fire."  It  is  cer- 
tainly very  improbable  that  in  a  Scripture  so  closely  knit 
together  and  consecutive,  so  pervaded  with  one  spirit  and 
intent,  the  baptist  should  have  used  the  word,  fire,  at  the 
beginning  and  end,  as  a  vivid  figure  of  the  judicial  wrath 
of  Christ,  and  in  the  middle,  change  it,  without  notice  or 
explanation,  into  a  figure  of  his  grace;  and  this,  too,  when 
the  first  and  third  clauses  present  every  appearance  of 
being  parallel  to,  and  expository  of  the  second.  The  sup- 
position that  the  baptism  of  fire,  means  an  exercise  of 
grace  is,  in  fact,  irreconcilable  with  the  purpose  of  John's 


286  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZKR.  [Part  XI. 

whole  announcement,  and  renders  the  passage  contradictory 
to  the  context,  and  false  to  John's  mission  and  Christ's 
office  and  work.  This  is  the  only  clause  in  the  connection 
in  which  John  states  in  direct  terms,  to  the  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees  whom  he  is  addressing,  the  office  of  Christ,  as  to- 
ward them  distinctively.  And  if,  while  proclaiming  in  gen- 
eral terms.  His  judicial  and  executive  functions,  consuming 
the  evil  trees  and  burning  up  the  chaff,  he  is  to  be  under- 
stood as  saying, — "He  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  his  gracious  influences,"  the  only  justffiable 
conclusion  would  be  that  those  self-righteous  sectaries  were 
the  favorites  of  heaven,  and  had  no  reason  to  fear  that 
day  that  should  burn  as  an  oven. 

2.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  the  figure  of  fire  to  be,  iu 
the  Scriptures,  arbitrary  and  variable  in  its  signffication. 
On  the  contrary,  while  constantly  resorted  to,  as  a  figure 
of  speech,  and  as  a  symbol,  both  real  and  ritual,  it  stands 
out  with  a  meaning,  fixed  and  invariable, —  a  meaning 
which  springs  out  of  its  essential  nature  and  its  familiar 
phenomena  and  effects,  and  is  incorporated  in  the  language 
and  institutions  of  the  Word,  by  express  divine  sanctions. 
The  tw^o  most  conspicuous  phenomena  of  fire  are  its  con- 
suming power,  and  the  torture  which  its  contact  inflicts 
upon  sentient  beings.  Hence,  with  constant  reference  to 
the  final  fiery  day,  it  is  everywhere  employed  as  the  ap- 
pointed symbol  of  the  divine  wrath,  arrayed' against  sin. 
In  this  character,  it  appears  in  such  real  symbols  as  the 
flaming  sword  of  the  cherubim,  at  Eden's  gate, — the  fire 
of  God  which  w^as  rained  down  upon  the  cities  of  the 
plain,  thus  "set  forth  for  an  example,  suffering  the  ven- 
geance of  eternal  fire"  (Jude  7),  and  the  fire  in  which 
God  descended  on  Mount  Sinai.  In  the  same  sense  was 
the  ritual  use  of  fire  which  continually  burned  on  the 
altars  of  the  Old  Testament,  from  the  beginning  of  man's 
history,  to  the  desolation  of  Jerusalem.  Thus,  as  con- 
spicuous as  WTre  the  temple,  and  the  altar,  and  incorpo- 


Skc.  LXIV.]  THE  BAPTISM  OF  FIRR.  287 

rated  iu  the  very  heart  of  the  ritual  system,  was  this 
symbol  of  God's  aveugiug  wrath,  the  fierceness  of  fire. 
As  a  figure  of  speech,  it  is  constantly  used  to  express  the 
inflicted  wrath  of  God.  And,  iu  fact,  it  is  never  employed 
iu  any  sense  incongruous  to  this.  It  is  true,  that  processes 
which  are  dependent  on  the  use  of  fire  are  sometimes 
employed  as  symbols  of  the  manner  in  which  the  divine 
grace  is  exercised.  Says  Malachi, — "He  is  like  a  refiner's 
fire,  and  like  fuller's  soap;  and  he  shall  sit  as  a  refiner 
and  purifier  of  silver;  and  he  shall  purify  the  sons  of  Levi, 
and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver." — Mai.  iii,  2,  3.  But, 
even  here,  the  fire  is  not  the  Spirit,  but  the  inflictions 
which  the  Savior  employs  and  which  by  the  Si)irit  he 
sanctifies  to  his  people.  Of  this  we  have  the  divine  cer- 
tificate. "I  have  refined  thee;  but  not  with  silver;  I 
have  chosen  thee  in  the  furnace  of  aflliction." — Isa. 
xlviii,  10.  But,  while  the  figure  is  thus  used,  and  while 
it  is  further  true,  that  phenomena  of  fire,  such  as  light, 
and  heat,  are  used  as  figures  of  particular  graces,  it  may 
with  confidence  be  asserted  that  fire,  itself,  is  never  em- 
ployed to  represent  the  Spirit  or  his  fruits. 

3.  It  is  impossible,  here  to  examine  all  of  the  multi- 
tude of  passages  in  which  the  figure  occurs.  It  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  notice  those  which  are  most  commonly  appealed 
to  in  proof  of  such  us6  as  is  here  denied.  On  the  words 
of  John,  Dr.  Addison  Alexander  thus  remarks: — "  With 
fire, — not  the  fire  of  divine  w^rath,  as4n  verse  10;  but  the 
powerful  and  purifying  influences  of  the  Spirit;  so  de- 
scribed elsewhere.  (See  Isa.  iv,  4 ;  Ixiv,  2 ;  Jer.  v,  14 ; 
Mai.  iii,  2;  Acts  ii,  3.)"*  Other  writers  add  Isa.  vi,  6; 
Zech.  xiii,  9 ;  1  Cor.  iii,  13,  15.  These  are  the  most  per- 
tinent passages  referred  to,  in  support  of  the  exegesis  given 
by  Dr.  Alexander.  How  entirely  perfunctory  and  really 
inapposite  these  references  are,  appears  in  the  fact  that  of 
the  places  cited  by  Dr.  Alexander  two  occur  in  the  prophecy 

*  Alexander  on  Matthew. 


288  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Paut  XI. 

of  Isaiali,  aud  one  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  on  which 
books  the  church  is  enriched  with  commentaries  from  the 
pen  of  that  distinguished  divine ;  and  that  in  those  com- 
mentaries he,  in  every  instance,  ignores  and  exchides  the 
interpretation  impHed  in  his  above-cited  references.  Thus ; 
Isa.  iv,  4, — "  the  spirit  of  judgment  and  the  spirit  of  burn- 
ing," he  explains  as  "the  judgment  and  burning  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  with  a  twofold  allusion  to  the  purifying  and 
destroying  energy  of  fire ;  or  rather,  to  its  purifying  by  de- 
stroying ;  purging  the  whole  by  the  destruction  of  a  part, 
and  thereby  manifesting  the  divine  justice^  as  an  active 
principle."  In  Isa.  Ixiv,  2,  the  figure  of  the  ebullition  of 
water,  represents  the  agitation  of  the  ungodly  nations  in 
the  presence  of  God's  justice,  delivering  and  avenging  Is- 
rael ;  and  so  it  is  expounded  by  Alexander.  "  O  that  thou 
wouldst  rend  the  heavens,  that  thou  wouldst  come  down, 
that  the  mountains  might  flow  down  at  thy  presence ;  as 
when  the  melting  fire  burneth,  the  fire  causeth  the  waters 
to  boil,  to  make  thy  name  known  to  thine  adversaries,  that 
the  nations  may  tremble  at  thy  presence."  In  Isa.  vi,  6, 
the  cherub  takes  a  coal  of  fire  from  ofi"  the  altar,  and  ap- 
plies it  to  the  lips  of  the  prophet,  saying,  "Lo!  this  hath 
touched  thy  lips,  and  thine  iniquity  is  taken  away,  and  thy 
sin  purged."  It  would  seem  evident,  that,  by  the  coal  from 
off"  the  altar,  is  meant  the  atoning  merits  of  the  Lord  Je- 
sus, of  whose  sufferings  the  fire  of  the  altar  was  the  ap- 
pointed symbol.  Or,  if  the  language  be  interpreted  of  the 
golden  altar  of  incense,  the  fire  of  which  was  kindled  from 
the  altar  of  burnt  offering,  the  meaning  is  the  sweet  savor 
of  Christ's  intercession  grounded  on  the  merit  of  his  suffer- 
ings. By  no  legitimate  exegesis  can  it  be  made  to  mean, 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Jer.  v,  14  needs  only  to  be  recited. 
"  Behold  I  will  make  my  words  in  thy  mouth,  fire,  and  this 
people,  wood  ;  and  it  shall  devour  them."  The  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  the  captivity  of  the 

*  The  italics  are  his  own. 


Skc.  lxiv.]  the  baptism  of  fire.  289 

Land,  iu  fulfillment  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy,  sufficiently  ex- 
pound this  language.  Remarks  already  made  are  sufficient 
as  to  the  next  citation : — Zech.  xiii,  9.  "I  will  bring  the 
third  part  through  the  fire  and  will  refine  them,  as  silver' 
is  refined,  and  will  try  them  as  gold  is  tried."  With  this, 
the  interpretation  of  Mai.  iii,  2,  is  identical.  The  refer- 
ence to  Acts  ii,  3,  looks  to  the  "  cloven  tongues  like  as  of 
fire,"  of  the  day  of  Pentecost.  But,  we  shall  presently  see 
that  not  burning  but  brightness, — illumination  as  of  a  lamp 
^vas  the  phenomenon  of  that  day.  Says  the  Psalmist, 
**  The  entrance  of  thy  word  giveth  light."  The  day  of  Pen- 
tecost was,  to  the  nations,  the  entrance  of  God's  word, — 
the  beginning  of  the  gospel ;  and  its  appropriate  symbols 
were  tongues  of  light  and  voices  of  praise  in  many  lan- 
guages. As  little  pertinent  is  the  next  passage :  1  Cor.  iii, 
13-15. — ''Every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest,  for 
the  day  shall  declare  it;  because  it  [the  day],  shall  be 
revealed  by  fire ;  and  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work, 
of  what  sort  it  is.  .  .  .  If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned, 
he  shall  suffer  loss  ;  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved ;  yet  so 
as  by  (<Zta,  tJirough)  fire;" — that  is, — "so  as  passing 
through  the  fire,  with  a  bare  escape."  That  fire  here 
means  the  judicial  and  punitive  agencies  of  the  last  great 
day,  in  the  discovery  and  punishment  of  sin,  is  clear. 

Such  are  the  most  pertinent  Scriptures  to  which  I  find 
reference  made,  to  prove  that,  by  fire,  John  meant,  the 
Holy  Spirit,  or  his  gracious  influences.  That  they  wholly 
fail  to  establish  the  point,  is  evident;  and  a  further  inde- 
pendent examination  induces  the  conviction  that  no  others 
more  pertinent  are  to  be  found. 

4.  A  comparison  of  the  four  evangelists  on  the  language 
of  the  baptist  strongly  confirms  the  interpretation  here 
maintained.  Mark  and  John,  in  giving  account  of  the 
baptist's  preaching,  direct  attention  more  particularly  to 
the  gospel  aspect  of  his  mission ;  as  he  was  the  herald  of 
the  atoning  Lamb  of  God.     Neither  of  them,  therefore, 

25 


290  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

mentions  his  impressive  warnings  to  the  Pharisees  and  Sad- 
ducees,  I'especting  the  trees  cast  into  the  fire  and  the 
threshing  floor  purged  by  burning.  And,  while  they  both 
record  the  testimony  of  John  concerning  Jesus,  as  he  that 
should  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  are  both  silent 
as  to  the  baptism  of  fire.  (Mark  i,  8 ;  John  i,  33.)  But 
Matthew  and  Luke  enter  more  into  the  sterner  aspects  of 
John's  office,  as  coming  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias, 
to  announce  judgment  as  well  as  mercy.  They  both,  there- 
fore, report  his  words  of  warning  to  a  generation  of  vipers, 
words  which  the  others  omit.  They  both  tell  of  the  axe 
laid  to  the  roots  of  the  trees,  and  the  threshing  floor  purged 
with  fire ;  and  both  of  them  interpose  between  these  pas- 
sages the  announcement  of  the  two  baptisms,  "with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire."  The  omissions  of  Mark  and 
John,  and  the  harmony  of  Matthew  and  Luke  show^  that 
the  baptism  of  fire  belonged  to  the  judicial  and  avenging 
aspect  of  Christ's  mission,  as  emphasized  by  the  latter  evan- 
gelists, but  only  lightly  touched  by  the  others. 

5.  The  inseparable  relation  of  these  two  functions  of 
Christ's  office  as  the  enthroned  Son  of  man  is  certified  in 
all  the  Scriptures.  It  is  prominent  in  those  which  had 
immediate  relation  to  the  coming  of  John,  and  the  pur- 
poses of  his  ministry.  We  have  seen  this,  as  to  the  first 
announcement  made  of  the  Angel  of  the  covenant,  to 
Israel  at  Sinai.  On  the  one  hand,  he  was  described  as  the 
Guide  and  Deliverer,  who  should  bring  them  into  the 
promised  land.  On  the  other,  they  were  warned  to  "Be- 
ware of  him.  .  .  .  Provoke  him  not ;  for  he  will  not  par- 
don."— Ex.  xxiii,  20, 21.  In  the  second  Psalm,  the  terrors  of 
the  Son  are  almost  exclusively  signalized,  in  warning  to  the 
rebellious  nations.  *"  Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of 
iron  ;  thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel. 
Be  wise  now  therefore,  O  ye  kings;  be  instructed,  O  ye 
judges  of  the  earth.  Serve  the  Lord  with  fear  and  rejoice 
with  trembling.     Kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye 


Sec.  LXIV.]  THE  BAPTISM  OF  FIRE.  291 

perish  from  the  way  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little. 
Blessed  are  all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  him."  Especially 
does  Malachi  emphasize  Christ's  two  contrasted  functions. 
A  careful  examination  of  the  third  and  fourth  chapters 
of  that  prophecy,  particularly  the  latter,  will  satisfy  the 
intelligent  reader  that  not  only  do  they  contain  John's 
commission,  as  the  forerunner  of  Christ,  but  give  the  key- 
note and  substance  of  his  preaching.  He  is  there  an- 
nounced as  the  Lord's  herald,  to  go  before  the  face  of  the 
Messenger  of  the  covenant,  who  ia  described  as  coming  to 
execute  two  opposite  but  inseparable  functions.  On  the 
one  hand,  he  is  to  be  the  refiner  and  purifier  of  the  sons 
of  Levi ;  on  the  other,  a  swift  witness  and  avenger  against 
the  wicked.  (Mai.  iii,  2-5.)  Particularly  did  John  have 
in  his  mind  the  fourth  chapter,  the  first  verses  of  which 
are  thus  given  in  the  admirable  translation  of  Dr.  T.  V. 
Moore.  "  For  beliold  !  the  day  comes!  burning  like  a  fur- 
nace! and  all  the  proud,  and  all  the  doers  of  evil  are 
chaff"!  and  tlie  day  that  comes  burns  them,  saith  Jehovah 
of  hosts,  who  will  not  leave  them  root  nor  branch.  And 
then  shall  rise  on  you  the  sun  of  righteousness,  and  heal- 
ing in  his  wings;  and  3"e  shall  go  forth  and  leap  as  calves 
of  the  stall.  And  ye  shall  trample  down  the  ungodly ;  for 
they  shall  be  ashes  under  the  soles  of  your  feet,  in  the  day 
which  I  make,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts."*  The  '*  stubble" 
of  Malachi  and  the  "  chaff""  of  John  refer  to  the  same  thinir. 
The  threshing  floor  was  a  spot  in  the  field  which  was 
beaten  hard  and  smooth.  The  grain  was  threshed  by  the 
treading  of  cattle,  or  by  dragging  over  it  *'  a  sharp  thresh- 
ing instrument  with  teeth."  The  process  of  winnowing  with 
the  fan  separated  the  grain  into  one  heap,  and  the  broken 
straw  or  "stubble"  and  ''chaff""  into 'another.  To  clear 
the  floor,  the  latter  were  burned.  From  this  custom  was 
deriv^ed  the  vividness  and  beauty  of  the  prophet's  imagery. 
He  represents  the  wicked  as  thus  separated  and  consumed, 
*  The  Prophets  of  the  Restoration,  by  Rev.  T.V.  Moore,  D.  D. 


292  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

aud  tlie  righteous,  like  calves  let  forth  from  the  stalls  in 
the  brightness  of  the  morning,  skipping  over  the  fields 
where  the  threshing  floor  lay,  and  thus  treading  among 
and  trampling  under  foot  the  ashes  of  the  wicked.  Com- 
pare Kev.  vi,  10 ;  xi,  18 ;  xv,  3,  4.  It  was  with  a  view  to 
the  portentous  character  of  the  day  thus  described,  that 
Malachi  announces  the  commission  of  John  to  preach  re- 
pentance to  Israel.  "Behold  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the 
prophet,  before  the  coming  of  that  great  and  dreadful  day 
of  the  Lord."  From  the4)rophecy,  which  sets  forth  iu  such 
vivid  colors,  the  tremendous  issues  depending  on  his  minis- 
try, John  derived  the  imagery  of  his  own  warning,  which 
is,  in  fact,  a  running  paraphrase  of  Malachi. 

"Behold,"  says  Malachi,  "  the  day  cometh."  " It  is  now 
immediately  at  hand,"  says  John.  "It  shall  burn  as  an 
oven,"  says  the  prophet,  "and  all  the  proud  and  all  that 
do  wickedly  .  .  .  the  day  that  cometh  shall  burn  them  up, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  it  shall  leave  them  neither 
root  nor  branch."  John  responds:  "The  axe  is  laid  at 
the  root  of  the  trees.  Therefore  every  tree  which  bringeth 
not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire." 
Says  Malachi,  "All  the  proud  and  all  that  do  wickedly 
shall  be  chafiP,  and  the  day  that  cometh  shall  burn  them 
up."  John  repeats  and  develops  the  figure.  "  Whose  fan 
is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and 
gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner;  but  will  burn  up  the 
chafl*  with  unquenchable  fire." 

Thus  thoroughly  are  the  thought  and  language  of  John 
imbued  with  the  conceptions  and  imagery  of  the  prophet, 
concerning  "  that  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord,'' 
the  description  of  which  derives  all  its  vividness  and  terror 
from  the  manifest  and  accepted  meaning  of  fire,  as  an  in- 
tense figure  of  God's  consuming  wrath.  In  the  presence 
of  these  facts,  the  supposition  is  at  once  incredible  and 
revolting  that,  into  the  very  midst  of  the  prophet's  tre- 
mendous portraiture  of  that  fiery  day,  with  the  awe  and 


Skc.  lxiv.]  the  baptism  of  fire.  293 

dread  of  which  he  had  so  successfully  striven  to  fill  the 
imaginatioDS  aud  the  hearts  of  his  hearers, — John  should 
have  injected,  abruptly,  and  without  the  shadow  of  ex- 
planation or  reason,  a  phrase,  in  which  the  same  figure  is 
employed  in  a  sense  wholly  foreign  to  that  in  which  it  is 
used  by  Malachi, — foreign  to  its  ordinary  meaning  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  to  the  whole  spirit  and  tenor  of  the  con- 
nection alike  of  the  prophet,  and  of  the  baptist. 

The  words  of  John  are,  in  themselves  incapable  of  being 
forced  into  coincidence  of  meaning.  "  He  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire."  Here  are  two 
distinct  aflfirmations  connected  by  the  copulative,  "and." 
The  latter,  uttered  through  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  purports,  upon  the  face  of  it,  to  be  additional  to  the 
former.  And  the  more  critically  it  is  examined,  the  more 
thoroughly  it  will  be  found  to  vindicate  that  character.  It 
can  not  be  a  mere  repetition.  It  can  not  be  explained  as 
interpreting  the  first  clause.  AVhat  then  does  it  mean,  but 
to  announce  a  baptism  of  fire,  in  addition  to  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Ghost? — a  baptism  of  justice  and  wrath,  ^s 
well  as  one  of  renewing  and  grace? 

Appeal  is  sometimes  made  to  phraseology  employed  by 
the  Lord  Jesus,  in  his  interview  with  Nicodemus,  as  being 
similar  in  construction. — "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water 
and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God." — John  iii,  5.  But  the  resemblance  disappears,  upon 
a  moment's  examination.  With  Nicodemus,  our  Savior 
first  employs  the  ritual  figure  of  water,  which  was  or 
should  have  been  familiar  to  the  Jewish  ruler.  But  then, 
to  avoid  the  possibility  of  mistake  on  a  point  so  vital,  he 
explains  himself  literally  by  naming  the  Holy  Spirit,  of 
whom  water  was  the  symbol.  But,  in  the  words  of  the 
baptist,  the  Spirit  is  first  named,  in  literal  terms,  which 
neither  needed  explanation,  nor  could  be  made  clearer  by 
it.  But  the  second  clause  is  a  supposed  explanation  of 
that  which  needs  none ;    an   explanation   less  intelligible 


294  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

than  the  words  to  be  explained, — an  illustration  by  a  figure, 
used  in  a  sense  directly  the  reverse  of  its  familiar  meaning 
in  the  Scriptures,  the  meaning  in  which  it  is  used  in  the 
same  immediate  connection,  both  before  and  after  the  clause 
in  question, — an  illustration,  therefore,  at  once  obscure  and 
embarras;sing,  shedding  no  ray  of  light  upon  the  subject, 
but  involving  it  in  darkness,  and  turning  to  weakness,  not 
to  say,  platitude,  the  stern  energy  of  the  baptist's  warning 
cry.  "He  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  awi 
with  his  gracious  influences." 

Whilst  the  interpretation  in  question  is  without  prece- 
dent or  authority  in  the  Scriptures,  the  arguments  in  its 
behalf  are  of  no  appreciable  force.  First,  it  is  said  to  be 
*'  harsh"  to  understand  the  baptism  of  fire  to  mean  Christ's 
judicial  administration  as  toward  the  wicked.  As  I  must 
confess  myself  unable  to  understand  the  meaning  and  force 
of  this  argument,  if  argument  it  be,  I  leave  it  without 
note  or  comment.  Another  plea  assumes  the  form  of 
assertion  that  "the  idea  of  baptism  does- not  admit  of  any 
reference  to  punishment."* 

It  may  be  allowed  that  haptizo  would  not  admit  of  such 
interpretation,  if  found  alone  and  disconnected  from  any 
modifying  or  explanatory  word  or  expression.  But,  that, 
in  such  connection  and  with  such  modifying  words  and 
statements  as  occur  in  the  text  of  John,  it  can  not  be  so 
interpreted,  is  by  no  means  self-evident,  and  is  supported 
by  no  sufficient  or  probable  argument.  The  fact  has  al- 
ready been  indicated  that  the  Hellenistic  use  of  the  word 
was  predicated  upon  its  employment  among  the  Greeks 
to  express  a  condition  changed  by  a  pervasive  and  con- 
trolling influence.  It  remains  to  be  proved  that  the  Jews 
had  entirely  forgotten  this,  which  was  to  them  the  radical 
meaning  of  the  word;  so  that,  in  their  vocabulary,  it  could 
never  have  been  used  in  that  sense.  In  fact,  however,  a 
remarkable  proof  remains  to  us  that  the  reverse  of  this  is 

-'•Ebrard,  in  Olsluiusen,  on  the  place. 


Sec.  LXIV.]  THE  BAPTISM  OF  FIRE.  295 

the  truth.  Says  Isaiah,  the  prophet, — "My  heart  panted; 
fearfulness  aflrighted  me:  the  uight  of  ray  pleasure  hath 
he  turned  iato  tear  unto  me." — Isa.  xxi,  4.  Alexander, 
with  the  later  Germans,  understands  this  as  a  personifica- 
tion of  Belshazzar,  the  king  of  Babylon,  on  that  night 
when  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  proclaimed  his  judgment 
and  doom.  This,  however,  is  unessential  to  the  present 
purpose.  Whether  the  prophet  spoke  of  himself  or  of 
some  other  man,  the  fact  of  present  interest  is,  that  in  the 
Septuagint  Greek,  the  phrase,  "Fearfulness  affrighted  me," 
is  rendered,  '*My  iniquity  baptizes  me."  By  this  language, 
the  Jewish  translators  express  the  agonies  of  remorse  seiz- 
ing and  controlling  the  speaker,  and  turning  the  pleasure 
of  the  night  into  fear.  Thus  he  was  baptized,  by  suddeu 
terrors  by  which  he  was  controlled  and  brought  into  a  new 
state  of  anguish  and  despair.  So  will  the  judgment  of  the 
final  day  seize  upon  the  ^vicked  and  control  and  bring 
them  into  a  like  new  condition  by  the  baptism  of  fire. 

Moreover,  the  connection  in  which  John  uses  the  ex- 
pression in  question,  is  such  as  to  constitute  abundant 
ground  for  the  vindication  of  his  language,  even  though 
baptism  were  restricted  to  the  sense  of  purification.  The 
purpose  of  Christ's  mission,  as  set  forth  by  John,  was,  to 
"thoroughly  purge  his  floor;"  by  "his  floor,"  meaning, 
primarily  the  |)eople  and  land  of  Israel ;  but,  in  its  ulti- 
mate intent,  the  world  and  the  universe.  In  order  to 
accomplish  this  object,  not  only  must  the  wheat  be  gar- 
nered, but  the  chaff  must  be  burned.  And,  as  washing 
with  water  is  none  the  less  a  purifying,  l^ecause  it  does 
not  cleanse  or  transform  the  filthiness,  itself,  but  only  re- 
moves it, — so,  none  the  less  is  the  baptism  of  fire  a  bap- 
tism, because  it  does  not  cleanse,  but  punishes  the  wicked. 
In  so  doing,  it  will  purge  the  race,  and  cleanse  the  world, 
which  it  inhabits.  That  the  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  a  real  baptism,  and  that  to  it  in  the  strictest  and  most 
peculiar  sense  the  word  belongs,  can  not  be  denied..    But 


296  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

in  that  baptism  we  see  the  separatiDg  of  the  righteous  and 
the  wicked.  It  is  as  much  the  exclusion  of  the  latter  as 
it  is  the  reception  of  the  former.  If  the  one  is  taken,  it 
means,  separation  ;  it  means  that  the  other  is  left.  Neither 
in  conception  nor  in  realization,  is  it  possible  to  separate 
these  two  thiugs,  nor  to  eliminate  the  rejection  and  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked  from  that  function  by  which  the 
righteous  are  called  and  saved.  By  both  alike,  and  by  the 
one  as  much  as  the  other,  is  the  commission  of  the  great 
Baptizer  fulfilled  and  his  floor  purged. 

Not  without  a  significant  bearing  upon  the  present 
question  is  the  language  in  which  the  Lord  Jesus  himself 
speaks  of  the  discrimination  which  he  is  to  exercise  and 
the  judgments  which  he  is  to  inflict  in  the  exercise  of  his 
royal  authority.  "I  am  come  to  send  fire  on  the  earth; 
and  w^hat  will  I  if  it  be  already  kindled?  .  .  .  Suppose  ye 
that  I  am  come  to  give  peace  on  earth?  I  tell  you.  Nay, 
but  rather  division.*' — Luke  xii,  49,  51.  That  fire,  here, 
is  no  symbol  of  grace,  is  manifest;  as  it  is,  also,  that  the 
theme  of  Malachi  and  John  is  the  subject  of  these  words 
of  Jesus.  Nor  is  the  fact  to  be  forgotten  that,  in  the  Le- 
vitical  system,  fire  was  distinctly  recognized,  along  w^ith 
water,  as  a  purifying  element.  See  Num.  xxxi,  10;  and 
compare  Isa.  xlviii,  10,  and  Mai.  iii,  2,  3. 

From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  the  baptism  of  fire  is 
the  exercise  by  the  Lord  Jesus  of  his  judicial  function,  in 
the  separation  and  punishment  of  the  wicked. 

Whilst  it  may  be  admitted  that  no  absolute  conclusion 
concerning  ritual  baptism,  is  to  be  deduced  from  the  facts 
set  forth  in  the  Scriptures,  as  to  the  manner  of  this 
baptism,  yet  are  they  not  unworthy  of  consideration  as 
one  element  in  the  mass  of  evidence.  (1.)  The  diluvial 
purgation  of  the  world,  in  the  days  of  Noah,  Avas  by  means 
of  rain.  "  The  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  broken  up, 
and  the  windows  Of  heaven  Avere  opened ;  and  the  rain  was 
upon  ^ the  earth   forty  days  and   forty  nights." — Gen.  vii. 


Sec.  LXV.]  THE  BAPTISM  OF  PENTECOST.  297 

11,  12.  (2.)  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  suffered  a  destruction, 
typical  in  its  intent,  and  "are  set  forth  for  an  example 
suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire." — Jude  7,  and  2  Pet. 
ii,  6.  Its  manner  is  thus  recorded.  "  Then  the  Lord  rained 
upon  Sodom  and  upon  Gomorrah  brimstone  and  fire  from 
the  Lord  out  of  heaven." — Gen.  xix,  24.  (3.)  The  final 
destruction  of  the  wicked  is  predicted  under  the  same 
form.  "  Upon  the  wicked  he  shall  rain  snares,  fire  and 
brimstone,  and  a  horrible  tempest :  this  shall  be  the  por- 
tion of  their  cup." — Psa.  xi,  6.  (4.)  More  than  thirty- 
times  the  figure  of  outpouring  is  used  in  the  Scriptures  to 
indicate  the  infliction  of  God's  wrath.  It  is  a  pouring  out, 
of  wrath,  of  indignation,  of  vengeance,  of  anger  and  fury. 
Thus,  in  the  Revelation,  the  seven  last  plagues  are  inflicted 
by  the  outpouring  of  cups  or  bowls  (phialas)  of  wrath  from 
heaven  upon  the  earth.  (Rev.  xvi.)  (5.)  The  final  de- 
struction of  Gog  and  Magog,  is  described  as  being  by  fire 
which  "  came  down  from  God  out  of  heaven  and  devoured 
them." — Rev.  xx,  9. 

The  analogy  of  all  these  facts  and  expressions  with 
those  concerning  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  as  designed  to 
indicate  the  exaltation  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  point  to 
his  throne  as  the  source  of  the  indignation  poured  out,  is 
apparent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fact  is  to  be  observed, 
that  the  eternal  state  of  those  wicked  is  represented  under 
the  figure  of  dwelling  in  the  lake  of  fire, — a  figure  w^hich 
corresponds  with  the  primary  classic  meaning  of  bajitlzo, 
in  that  there  is  no  resurrection. 

Section  LXV. — Tlie  Baptism  of  Pentecost. 

Before  his  crucifixion,  Jesus  had  assured  his  discij^les 
that  they  should  see  the  kingdom  of  God  come  with  power. 
After  his  resurrection,  in  visits  manifestly  preternatural, 
"  he  was  seen  of  them  forty  days,  speaking  of  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  being  assembled 
together  with  them,  he  commanded  them  that  they  should 


298  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

not  depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  wait  for  the  promise  of 
the  Father,  which  saith  he,  ye  have  heard  of  me.  For 
John  truly  baptized  with  water;  but  ye  shall  be  baptized 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  not  many  days  hence." — Acts  i,  3,  4. 
He  moreover  told  them,  "Ye  shall  receive  power,  after 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you  ;  and  ye  shall  be 
witnesses  unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea, 
and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth." — lb.  8.  For  ten  days  after  his  public  ascension 
they  awaited  the  promised  baptism.  "And  when  the  day 
of  Pentecost  was  fully  come,  they  w^ere  all  with  one  accord 
in  one  place.  And  suddenly  there  came  a  souud  from 
heaven  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all  the 
house  where  they  were  sitting.  And  there  appeared  unto 
them  cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire,  and  it  sat  upon  each 
of  them,  and  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave 
them  utterance." — rActs  i,  1-4.  They  were  inspired  with 
divine  courage,  zeal,  aud  power,  and  in  presence  of  those 
who  had  cried,  "Away  with  him!"  and  of  the  rulers,  who 
had  condemned  him  to  the  cross,  proclaimed  the  kingdom 
and  glory  of  the  man  of  Nazareth.  And,  on  that  day, 
three  thousand,  a  few  days  afterward,  five  thousand,  and 
daily  multitudes  of  believers  added  to  the  church,  were 
the  trophies  of  the  power  of  Christ's  baptizing  scepter, — the 
firstfruits  and  pledge  of  the  baptism  of  his  Spirit  which 
still  continues  to  pour  from  on  high  its  floods  of  salvation 
upon  the  world. 

Such  was  our  Savior's  entrance  on  his  office,  as  the 
royal  Baptizer, — such  the  first  administration  of  his  bap- 
tism of  grace.  There  are  four  things  concerning  it  which 
demand  attention.  These  are, — the  manner  in  which  the 
baptifem  was  dispensed, — the  new  spirit  then  given  to  the 
church, — the  accompanying  signs, — and,  the  baptism  of 
repentance,  which  then  and  thenceforth  accompanied  the 
preaching  of' the  gospel. 


Sec.  LXVI.]        THE  MANNER  OF  PENTECOST.  299 

Section  LXVI. — The  Manner  of  the  Pentecost  Baptism. 

In  all  the  expressioDS  and  statements  concerning  the 
baptism  of  Pentecost,  there  is  a  prominence  given  to  the 
manner  of  it  which  can  not  be  casual,  nor  devoid  of  special 
significance.  The  attendant  phenomena  are  described  as 
"a  sound  from  heaven,  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind," 
which  "filled  all  the  place  where  they  were  sitting." 
*'  Cloven  tongues,  like  as  of  fire,  sat  upon  each  of  them." 
**And  they  were  n\\  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  facts 
are  by  Peter  described  as  a  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy, — 
"J  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  iqwn  all  flesh." — vs.  17.  He 
further  tells  the  assembly,  that  Jesus  "  shedfoHh  this  which 
ye  now  see  and  hear." — vs.  33.  Of  the  similar  scene  in  the 
house  of  Cornelius,  it  is  stated  that  "  the  Holy  Ghost  fell 
on  all  them  which  heard  the  word,"  and  that  "o;i  the  Gen- 
tiles was  poured  out  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost." — Acts  x, 
44,  45.  Peter  also,  in  giving  account  of  this  scene  to  the 
church  at  Jerusalem,  stated,  with  reference  to  these  facts, 
that  as  he  began  to  speak,  "  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them, 
as  on  us  at  the  beginning.  Then  remembered  I  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  how  he  said,  .  .  .  Ye  shall  be  baptized  with 
the  Holy  Ghost."— Acts  xi,  15,  16. 

After  the  same  conception  is  the  language  of  Paul. — 
"According  to  his  mercy  he  saj'ed  us,  by  the  washing  of 
regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he 
shed  on  us  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Savior." — 
Tit.  iii,  5,  6.  "  Hope  maketh  not  ashamed,  because  the 
love  of  God  (eJckechutai  en)  is  poured  out  on  our  hearts  (dia) 
through  the  Holy  Ghost  given  us." — Rom.  v,  5.  In  these 
places,  the  words,  "  shed,"  and,  "poured,"  which  are  in- 
terchangeably used  in  the  translation,  represent  one  in  the 
original. 

The  first  point,  here,  is  the  manner  in  which  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  occasion  were  introduced.  "  Suddenly  there 
came  a  sound  from  heaven  as  of  a  rushing  mighty   wind, 


800  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

and  it  filled  all  the  house  where  they  were  sitting."  That 
this  was  designed  to  be  a  significant  sign,  would  seem  certain 
in  the  presence  of  all  the  other  significant  features  of  the  oc- 
casion. And  its  meaning  is  not  obscure.  From  the  Greek 
verb,  p?ieo,  to  blow,  are  derived  two  nouns,  pneuma  and 
pnoe.  These  words  are  nearly  identical  in  meaning,  except 
that  pneuma  is  by  the  sacred  writers  appropriated  to  desig- 
nate the  Holy  Spirit.  It,  and  the  Hebrew  ruagh,  which 
is  appropriated  in  a  like  manner,  both  mean,  primarily, 
the  air,  the  wind;  and  hence,  the  breath,  the  soul  of  man, 
a  spirit,  the  Spirit  of  God.  In  all  these  significations, 
they  are  found,  the  one  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  the  other  in  the  Greek  of  the  Septua- 
gint  version.  We  have  seen  how  largely  the  figure  of  water 
is  used  as  a  symbol  of  the  Spirit.  Its  chief  propriety  as 
thus  employed  appears  in  its  effects  upon  the  earth  and  the 
creatures,  penetrating  and  fertilizing  the  soil,  washing  away 
defilement,  and  refreshing  the  thirsty ;  w^hile  as  rain  from 
heaven,  it  traces  the  descent  of  the  Spirit  from  the  throne 
of  God.  In  wind,  or  air  in  motion,  or  the  breath,  we  have 
another  symbol,  familiar  in  the  Scriptures,  and  equally  in- 
teresting and  significant.  Its  peculiar  fitness  consists  in  its 
relation  to  its  source,  as  representing  the  Third  Person  as 
the  Spiritus  or  breath,  ''which  proceedeth  from  the  Fa- 
ther ;"  and  in  its  nature,  as  essential  to  sustain  life  in  the 
animate  creation.  Says  the  Psalmist,  "  By  the  Word  of  the 
Lord  were  the  heavens  made,  and  all  the  host  of  them  by 
the  breath  (to  pneumati,  by  the  Spirit)  of  his  mouth." — '■ 
Ps.  xxxiii,  6.  The  word,  pnoe,  is  that  Avhich  designates 
the  "rushing,  mighty  ivind"  of  Pentecost.  It  is  used  in 
the  Septuagint  in  the  sense  of  wind,  stormy  or  violent  wind, 
the  breath,  the  soul,  the  spirit.  Its  relation  to  pneuma 
may  be  seen  in  such  places  as  follow. — "  He  that  giveth 
hreatli  (pnoe)  to  the  people  upon  it  and  spirit  (pneuma)  to 
them  that  w^alk  therein." — Isa.  xlii,  5.  "The  spirit 
(pneuma)  should  fail  before  me,   and  the  souls   (pnoen) 


Sec.  LXVL]       THE  MANNER  OF  PENTECOST.  301 

which  I  have  made." — Ibid.  Ivii,  16.  "  At  the  hlmi  (pnoes) 
of  the  breath  {piieumatos)  of  His  nostrils." — 2  Sam.  xxii,  16. 
**  All  the  time  my  breath  (^pnoes)  is  in  me,  and  the  Spirit 
(pneuma)  of  God  is  in  my.  nostrils." — Job  xxvii,  3.  "  The 
Spirit  (pneuma)  of  God  hath  made  me,  and  the  breath 
{pnoe)  of  the  Almighty  hath  given  me  life." — Job.  xxxiii, 
4.  In  the  New  Testament,  we  have  the  words  of  Jesus  to 
Nicodemus, — "The  wind  bloweth  {pneuma  pnei,  the  Spirit 
breatheth),  where  it  listeth." — John  iii,  8.  And  in  this 
same  book  of  the  Acts,  is  the  testimony  of  Paul  to  the  Athe- 
nians that — "  He  giveth  to  all,  life  and  breath  (pnoen),  and 
all  things." — Acts  xvii,  25.  Significant  to  the  same  pur- 
pose is  the  word,  theo-pneustos  {God  breathed),  which  de- 
scribes the  Scriptures  as  the  dictate  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
prophets.  (2  Tim.  iii,  16.)  Turning  now  to  another 
word, — says  Dr.  Alexander,  "The  word  (pheromene)  trans- 
lated rushing,  is  a  passive  participle,  meaning  borne,  or 
carried,  and  is  properly  descriptive  of  involuntary  motion, 
caused  by  a  superior  power ;  an  idea  not  suggested  by  the 
active  participles,  rushing,  driving,  or  the  like ;  .which  seem 
to  make  the  wind  itself  the  operative  agent."*  Compare  1 
Peter i,  13, — "The grace  that  is  to  be  brought  (pheromenen) 
unto  you;"  and  2  Peter  i,  21. — "  Holy  men  spake  as  they 
(plieromenoi)  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  With  these 
notes,  let  us  compare  that  action  of  Jesus,  in  which  he 
breathed  on  his  disciples,  and  said  to  them,  "  Receive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost." — John  xx,  22.  This  we  must  understand  as 
designed  by  him  for  an  interpretation  of  Pentecost.  It  can 
mean  nothing  else.  For  not  till  then  was  the  Spirit  to  be 
given. 

The  same  figure  is  fully  developed  in  the  prophecy  of 
Ezekiel  (xxxvii,  1-14),  of  the  valley  of  dry  bones.  "There 
were  very  many  in  the  open  valley  ;  and  lo,  they  were  very 
dry."  At  the  divine  command,  Ezekiel  prophesied  to 
them, — "O  ye  dry    bones,    hear   the   word  of  the  Lord. 

*  Alexander  on  the  Acts,  in  loco. 


302  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  unto  these  bones,  Behold,  I  -will 
cause  breath  to  enter  into  you,  and  ye  shall  live.  .  .  . 
And  as  I  prophesied,  there  was  a  noise,  and  behold  a 
shaking,  and  the  bones  came  together,  bone  to  his  bone. 
And  when  I  beheld,  lo,  the  sinews  and  the  flesh  came  up 
upon  them,  and  the  skin  covered  them  above;  but  there 
was  no  breath  in  them.  Then  said  he  unto  me.  Prophesy 
unto  the  wind.  .  .  .  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath, 
and  breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live.  So  I 
prophesied  as  he  commanded  me,  and  the  breath  came 
into  them  and  they  stood  up  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding 
great  army."  The  vision  is  interpreted  to  the  prophet. 
"  These  bones  are  the  whole  house  of  Israel.  .  .  .  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God ;  Behold,  O  my  people,  I  will  open 
your  graves  and  cause  you  to  come  up  out  of  your  graves, 
and  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel.  And  ye  shall  know 
that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  have  opened  your  graves,  O 
my  people,  and  brought  you  up  out  of  your  graves,  and 
shall  put  my  Spirit  in  you  and  ye  shall  live."  Ezek. 
xxxvii,  1-14.  Throughout  this  passage,  the  words, 
"wind,"  "breath"  and  "Spirit,"  are  in  the  original  the 
same  (Hebrew,  rudgli,  Greek,  pieiima),  and  the  word, 
"breathe," — "Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and 
breathe  upon  these  slain," — is  the  same  that  describes  the 
action  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  just  referred  to.  If  now,  in  the 
light  of  these  illustrations,  we  return  to  the  account  of 
the  Pentecostal  scene,  we  read  that  "suddenly  there  came 
a  sound  from  heaven  as  of  an  outbreathed,  mighty  breath, 
and  it  filled  all  the  house  where  they  were  sitting.  .  .  . 
And  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit."  Thus  was 
signified  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  as  the  breath  of  His  life,  by 
Him  breathed  into  His  disciples.  So  distinctly  and  pro- 
foundly was  this  idea  impressed  on  the  mind  of  the  primi- 
tive church,  that  it  became  the  occasion  of  one  of  the  un- 
warranted forms  which  were  at  an  early  age  added  to  the 
Scriptural  rite  of  baptism.     After  the  interrogation  and  im- 


Sec.  LXVI.]        THE  MANNER  OF  PENTECOST.  303 

mediately  before  the  baptism,  there  was  an  exorcism,  with 
an  insufflation  or  breathing  in  the  face  of  the  person  bap- 
tized ;  which  Augustine  calls  a  most  ancient  tradition  of 
the  church.*  It  was  meant  to  signify  the  expelling  of 
the  evil  spirit,  and  the  breathing  m  of  the  good  Spirit 
of  God. 

In  the  outbreathing  of  Pentecost  we  have  the  only 
phenomenon  of  the  day,  that  was  expressive  of  the  actual 
performance  of  the  baptism  by  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  was 
the  specific  symbol  of  the  manner  of  it.  Comparing  it  with 
the  various  other  statements  above  quoted,  it  appears  that 
of  that  baptism ,  the  element  was  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus ;  the  administrator  was  Jesus  seated  on  the  throne  of 
glory ;  the  manner  of  it  was  an  outbreathing  from  him ;  its 
coming  was  by  descent, — a  shedding  down  from  the  height 
of  his  throne  to  his  disciples  in  Jerusalem  ;  in  its  reception, 
it  was  a  falling  upon  them ;  and  the  result  was  that  they 
were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  breath  of  their 
lives.  For,  in  the  symbol  as  described,  they  were  sur- 
rounded as  it  were  with  an  atmosphere  of  the  Spirit.  "  It 
filled  all  the  house  where  they  were  sitting  ;"  so  that  they 
could  breathe  no  other  breath. 

In  this  account,  the  chief  interest  centers  on  the  source 
of  the  outpouring.  And,  in  fact,  the  very  purpose  of  the 
forms  of  expression  used  and  of  the  sensible  phenomena 
which  they  describe  was  to  direct  the  attention  of  all,  up- 
ward to  that  source.  To  the  same  effect,  was  the  whole 
argument  of  Peter's  discourse  to  the  multitude.  Each  po- 
sition in  it,  has  this  as  the  end. — "  Ye  men  of  Israel,  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  ye  know,  for  him  ye  crucified.  Him  God 
raised  from  the  dead  and  exalted  to  his  own  right  hand, 
and  gave  the  Spirit  in  all  fullness  to  him.  That  Spirit 
hath  he  shed  down  upon  us,  as  ye  now  see  and  hear,  and 
thus  is  shown  his  exaltation  and  power.  Therefore  let  all 
the  house  of  Israel  know,  assuredly,  that  God  hath  made 

*  Augustinus  de  Nupt.  et  Concup.  IT,  29. 


304  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

that  same  Jesus  whom  ye  crucified  both  Lord  and  Christ, — 
both  sovereign  over  all  and  that  Anointed  One  who  was 
promised  to  David,  and  heralded  by  all  the  prophets,  as 
he  that  should  sit  on  David's  conquering  throne." 

We  have  seen  how  Paul  labors  to  exalt  our  imagina- 
tions to  some  proportionate  conceptions  of  the  unapproach- 
able height  of  the  throne  of  Christ's  glory.  And  now,  in 
our  times,  from  the  day  of  Pentecost  unto  the  end,  it  is 
signalized  in  the  exercise  by  him  of  that  highest  preroga- 
tive of  God,  the  sending  forth  of  the  infinit-e  Spirit.  It  is 
shed  down  by  him  from  yonder  height  to  this  low  earth, — 
down  to  us  worms  in  the  abyss  Avhere  we  lay,  strown  in 
the  upas  valley  of  death,  to  breathe  life  into  the  dead  and 
give  salvation  to  the  lost.  And  to  signalize  that  height 
of  his  exaltation,  the  depth  of  his  condescension,  and  the 
measureless  immensity  of  his  matchless  love,  the  Baptism 
of  Pentecost  was  given,  its  miracles  were  wrought,  and  its 
myriad  trophies  of  salvation  gathered.  All  these  point 
upward  and  cry,  —  "Behold!  on  high!  Far  above  all 
powers  and  dominions,  Jesus  fills  the  throne !  Thence  he 
breathes  forth  the  Spirit  of  God!  Thence  he  sheds  down 
salvation !" 

Section  LXVII. — T]ie  New  Spirit  Imjmrted  on  Pentecost. 

The  previous  announcements  which  heralded  the  bap- 
tism of  Pentecost,  and  all  the  attendant  facts  and  state- 
ments unite  to  indicate  that  in  the  very  nature  of  the  gift 
then  conferred  there  was  something  essentially  new  and 
different  from  any  previous  endowments  bestowed  on  the 
church, — something  by  which  peculiar  honor  was  reflected 
on  the  baptizing  office  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  upon  this  its 
first  assumption  and  exercise.  It  is  a  question  to  be  con- 
sidered,— What  were  the  new  characteristics  of  grace  now 
first  imparted  to  the  church? 

The  Holy  Spirit  was  no  novelty,  now  first  bestowed. 
At  the  coming  of  Christ,  the  Jews  were  familiar  with  the 


Skc.  LXVIL]       THE  NEW  SPIRIT  IMPARTED.  305 

doctrine  of  the  personality  and  offices  of  the  Third  Person 
of  the  Godhead.  Of  this  the  evidence  is  conchisive,— in 
the  story  of  John's  birth, — in  the  theme  and  style  of  John's 
preaching, — in  the  facts  stated  as  to  the  birth,  anointing, 
and  ministry  of  Christ, — in  His  manner  of  reference  to 
the  subject  in  his  teaching, — and  especially  in  his  warning 
as  to  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  only  expli- 
cable upon  the  supposition  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Spirit 
was  familiar  to  the  Jews.  The  knowledge  thus  evinced 
had  its  source  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament. 
So  full  are  they  on  the  subject  that  there  is  scarcely  an 
aspect  in  which  it  appears  in  the  New  Testament  which 
has  not  its  counterpart  in  the  Old.  In  them  his  agency 
is  distinctly  and  fully  recognized,  both  in  the  inspiration 
of  the  prophets,  and  in  the  gifts  and  graces  which  have 
been  common  to  God's  people  in  all  ages.  See  for  exam- 
ple, Psa.  li,  11-13;  cxliii,  10;  Isa.  Ixiii,  10,  etc.  The 
graces  which  Paul  testifies  to  be  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit 
(Gal.  V,  22;  Eph.  v,  9),  and  which  are  in  the  above  cited 
places,  by  the  Old  Testament  writers  referred  to  the  same 
source,  were  abundantly  displayed  in  the  saints  of  the 
former  dispensation,  insomuch  that  Paul  holds  them  up  as 
ensamples  to  us.  (Heb.  xi  and  xii,  1.)  The  Psalms, 
which  gave  expression  and  nourishment  to  their  graces, 
are  never  exhausted  by  the  profoundest  attainments  of 
Christian  experience.  And  with  all  the  lamentable  facts 
of  unfaithfulness  and  apostasy  which  darken  the  pages  of 
Israel's  history,  there  were  periods  of  fidelity,  in  which  the 
church  shone  in  the  beauty  of  holiness,  fair  and  comely  in 
the  eyes  of  God.  In  fact,  with  all  the  disposition  which 
we  sometimes  realize  to  dwell  on  the  unbelief  and  aposta- 
sies of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  lamentable  as  they  were,  it 
is  certain  that  the  New  Testament  church  is  in  no  condi- 
tion to  boast  herself  against  Israel.  If  we  survey  the 
nominally  Christian   church,   in   its    various   sections — the 

communions  of  Rome  and  of  the  east,  and  of  the  various 

2G 


306  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

Protestant  churches  in  Europe  and  America — a  just  judg- 
ment will  pronounce  them,  on  the  whole,  scarcely  less  un- 
faithful and  surely  more  inexcusable  than  was  Israel. 
Assuredly,  there  is  no  such  difference  in  our  favor  as  to 
indicate  the  absence  of  the  Spirit  from  the  latter,  and  his 
peculiar  presence  with  the  former. 

In  what  then  did  the  peculiarity  of  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost consist?  To  this  question,  Peter  in  bis  discourse  on 
the  occasion,  gave  an  explicit  answer.  "  This  is  that  which 
is  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel: — And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit 
upon  all  flesh." — Acts  ii,  16,  17,  In  this  citation  of  proph- 
ecy, and  in  the  discourse  which  followed,  Peter  defined  the 
peculiarities  of  the  occasion  as  consisting  in  three  things: 
First,  that  the  outpouring  of  that  day  was  made  by  the 
Lord  Jesus  in  person.  Second,  that  the  miraculous  phe- 
nomena attending  it  were  designed  to  attest  the  fact  that 
He,  being  risen  from  the  dead  and  exalted  to  God's 
right  hand,  was  endowed  with  supreme  and  universal  au- 
thority. Third,  that  the  gifts  of  salvation  by  him  dis- 
pensed were  adapted  and  designed  not  for  Israel  only  but 
for  "all  flesh," — for  the  world.  Thus  was  implied  a  change 
in  the  whole  aspect  of  grace,  in  the  hearts  of  God's 
people. 

We  have  formerly  seen  that  God's  entrance  into  cov- 
enant with  Israel,  at  Sinai,  implied  a  temporary  with- 
drawal of  his  overtures  from  the  nations, — "  suffering  them 
to  walk  in  their  own  ways,"  (Acts  xiv,  16),  but  with  a  distinct 
assertion  of  a  reserved  right,  inserted  in  the  covenant 
itself, — "For,  all  the  earth  is  mine."  So  long  as  God 
"winked  at"  the  wickedness  of  the  Gentiles,  the  church 
had  neither  commission  nor  call  to  labor  for  their  salvation, 
nor  impulse  of  grace  to  look  for  it.  The  doors  of  salva- 
tion and  of  the  church  were  held  open  to  all,  and  the 
word  and  ordinances  maintained  in  Zion  were  an  invitation 
to  the  world  to  enter  freely.     But,  beyond  that  Israel  was 


Sec.  LXVIL]      THE  NEW  SPIRIT  IMPARTED,  307 

not  called  to  go.  On  the  contrary,  she  was  discouraged 
from  all  active  or  intimate  contact  or  int(y^course  with  the 
apostate  nations.  Her  primary  and  paramount  office  and 
obligation  it  was  to  keep  her  own  self  pure,  and  to  preserve 
and  transmit  the  oracles  and  ordinances  of  God  fliithfuUy, 
until  the  time  of  the  Messiah.  In  the  meantime,  since  the 
operations  and  graces  of  the  Spirit  can  not  but  be  in  harmony 
with  the  will  and  purpose  of  God,  his  influences  in  the  hearts 
of  Israel,  corresponded  with  the  purpose  thus  indicated 
concerning  the  nations.  For,  grace  is  nothing  but  harmony 
of  affections  and  will  with  the  character  and  will  of  God. 
Grace,  in  Israel,  was  therefore  without  disseminating  zeal 
or  power,  as  toward  the  Gentiles.  It  contained  no  im- 
pulse to  seek  their  salvation.  But,  knowing  them  as  apos- 
tate and  enemies  to  God  and  to  his  people,  and  as  the 
objects  of  his  indignation  and  wrath,  it  concurred  in  that 
indignation,  and  at  times  gave  expression  to  it,  in  forms 
which  offend  a  shallow  and  unsanctified  criticism.  Yet  are 
they  no  more  incongruous  to  the  active  enjoyment  and  ex- 
ercise of  the  profoundest  and  most  abundant  measure  of 
the  Spirit's  graces,  than  is  the  absence  in  heaven's  blest 
inhabitants  of  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  Satan,  and  their 
adoring  approval  of  God's  justice  in  his  doom.  All  this  was 
rather  confirmed  than  modified  by  the  fact  that  the  Spirit 
of  prophecy  constantly  indicated  that  a  day  was  coming 
when  all  the  ends  of  tlie  earth  should  see  and  share  in  the 
salvation  of  God.  The  more  distinctly  it  was  revealed  as 
the  purpose  of  God  for  the  future,  the  more  clearly  was  it 
seen  to  be  not  of  the  present. 

But,  now,  the  time  had  come.  The  Son  of  man,  the 
Prince  Messiah,  to  whom  was  reserved  the  ingathering  of  the 
Gentiles  (Gen.  xlix,  10),  had  assumed  the  scepter  and  re- 
ceived the  Spirit  of  life  for  the  nations.  The  sanctifying 
grace  of  that  Spirit  must  be  essentially  the  same  in  all 
ages  and  times.  But  there  was  now  a  change  in  its  aspect 
to  the  Gentiles,  coincident  with  the  change  of  the  divine 


308  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

attitude  toward  them.  Instead  of  the  old  passive  sentiment 
concerning  the  world's  ruin, — instead  of  the  former  ardor 
of  indignation  against  its  ungodliness, — the  apostles  and 
the  church  were  now  inspired  with  a  divine  pity  and  benefi- 
cent love, — with  an  active  and  aggressive  zeal  for  the  con- 
version of  men.  While  the  enclosed  water  of  the  laver  at 
the  tabernacle  was  the  symbol  of  the  Spirit's  influences, 
under  the  former  dispensation,  the  increasing  river  of 
Ezekiel's  vision  is  their  representative  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment times.  Flowing  forth  out  of  Zion,  with  a  widening 
and  deepening  current,  it  pours  its  living  waters  into  the 
dead  sea  of  our  apostate  humanity,  to  the  healing  of  the 
waters.  This  difference  in  the  nature  of  the  Spirit's  in- 
fluences, now,  and  of  old,  is  beautifully  exhibited  in  two 
figures  employed  by  our  Savior,  the  distinctive  features  of 
which  should  not  be  overlooked  because  of  the  points  of 
analogy.  Speaking  to  the  woman  of  Samaria  of  the  per- 
sonal blessings  which  the  Spirit  bestows,  he  tells  her, — 
"  AVhosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him 
shall  never  thirst;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him 
shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlast- 
ing life." — John  iv,  14.  A  well,  within ;  living,  active, 
but  confined.  But,  at  Jerusalem,  at  the  festival  of  the 
pouring  of  water,  which  anticipated  the  giving  of  salvation 
to  the  Gentiles, — "In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the 
feast,  Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying.  If  any  man  thirst,  let 
him  come  unto  me  and  drink.  He  that  believeth  on  me, 
as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow 
rivers  of  living  water." — John  vii,  37,  38.  ''Out  of  his 
belly  shall  /oio."  Here  is  grace,  not  enclosed  and  restricted 
in  its  sphere,  but  outflowing  and  aggressive,  disseminating 
itself  witliout  stint  or  limit.  Hence  the  explanation  which 
the  evangelist  adds: — "This  spake  he  of  the  Spirit  which 
they  that  believe  on  him  should  receive ;  for  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  not  yet  given,  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet 
glorified." — lb.  vs.  39.     Hence,  also,  the  selection  made  by 


Sec.  LX VII.]        THE  NEW  SPIRIT  IMPARTED.  309 

Peter,  in  explanation  of  the  Pentecostal  scene.  Among  the 
prophecies,  there  are  many  in  which  the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  is  spoken  of  But  of  them  all  the  apostle  selected 
that  "which,  in  the  briefest  and  completest  manner,  indi- 
cates the  breaking  down  of  the  wall  of  partition.  "I  will 
pour  out  of  my  Spirit  wpon  all  flesh."  This  he  afterward 
explains.  "For  the  j)romise  is  unto  you,  and  to  your 
children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the 
Lord  our  God  shall  call." — vs.  39. 

But  there  was  another  point,  equally  important,  in  the 
endowments  bestowed  on  that  memorable  day.  Heretofore, 
not  only  had  commission  to  the  Gentiles  been  withheld 
from  the  church,  but  gratuitous  labors  by  her  in  that  be- 
half would  have  been  necessarily  futile,  for  lack  of  power 
accompanying  the  word.  But,  said  Jesus  to  the  apostles, 
''Ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you;  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in 
Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the 
uttermost  part  of  the  earth." — Acts  i,  8.  What  was  the 
nature  of  the  power  thus  given,  Paul  tells  the  church  of 
Corinth.  "God  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of 
darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 
But  w^e  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  that  the 
excellency  of  the  power  may  be  of  God,  and  not  of  us." — 
"And  ray  speech  and  my  preaching  were  not  with  enticing 
words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  power,  that  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wis- 
dom of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God." — 2  Cor.  iv,  6,  7; 
1  Cor.  ii,  4,  5.  This  illuminating,  convincing,  and  convert- 
ing power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  attending  the  word,  remains 
the  perpetual  endowment  and  authentication  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  In  addition  to  the  zeal  and  power  thus 
conferred,  the  apostles  were  by  this  baptism  invested  with 
those  gifts  of  courage,  wisdom,  inspiration,  and  miracles, 
which  had  been  promised  by  the  Savior,  and  were  requisite 


310  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Paiit  XL 

to  qualify  tliem  for  their  special  office  aud  to  attest  their 
ministry.  (Mark  xvi,  17,  18;  Luke  xxi,  15-19;  John 
xiv,  26;  xvi,  13-15.) 

Such  was  the  change  wrought  by  the  baptism  of  Pen- 
tecost ;  such  the  new  gifts  by  it  conferred.  With  the 
coming  of  God's  set  time  of  mercy  to  the  world,  it  awa- 
kened in  the  hearts  of  his  people  a  zeal  for  souls  of  every 
class  and  nation.  And  it  imparted  to  the  word  of  the 
gospel  a  demonstration  and  power  of  converting  grace, 
correspondent  to  the  breadth  of  the  new  commission,  and 
to  the  saving  purposes  of  our  blessed  God,  toward  an 
apostate  race.  In  proportion  as  we,  in  these  latter  days, 
have  part  in  the  baptism  and  Spirit  of  Pentecost,  will  we 
share  in  the  same  ardor  of  zeal  for  the  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel and  the  conquest  of  the  nations  to  the  banner  of  Christ. 

Section  LX VIII.  —  The,  Tongues  like  as  of  Fire. 

Jesus  had  foretold  his  disciples  that  miraculous  signs 
and  wonders  should  accompany  and  attest  the  word  of  the 
gospel  published  by  them  (Mark  xvi,  17,  18),  and  the  sub- 
sequent history  gives  abundant  illustration  of  the  fulfillment 
of  this  pro^mise,  in  the  healing  of  the  sick,  raising  the  dead 
and  other  miracles  of  power.  But  the  only  signs  mentioned 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost  are  the  "rushing  mighty  wind," 
the  "cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire,"  and  the  gift  of  "other 
tongues."  The  first  of  these  has  been  already  considered. 
We  will  now  inquire  into  the  "tongues  like  as  of  fire." 
"There  appeared  unto  them  cloven  tongues,  like  as  of 
fire;  and  it  sat  upon  each  of  them."  Says  Alexander, 
^'Cloven  should  rather  be,  distrihnted,  so  that  one  sat  on  each 
of  them.  (Vulg.  linguce  dispertitce.)  The  common  version, 
which  implies  that  each  tongue  was  divided  into  two  or  more, 
is  at  variance  with  the  usage  of  the  Greek  verb  (diameri- 
zomenai),  which  sometimes  denotes  moral  separation  or 
estrangement  (Luke  xi^  17,  18;  xii,  52,  53),  but  never, 
physical  division.     Its  usual  sense  of  distribution,  or  allot- 


Sec.  LXVIII.]        THE  TONGUES  AS  OF  FIRE.  311 

ment,  may  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  Matt,  xxvii,  35; 
Mark  xv,  24;  Luke  xxii,  17;  xxiii,  34;  aod  Acts  ii,  45."* 
"There  appeared  unto  them  distributed  tongues  like  as  of 
fire,  and  one  sat  on  each  of  them."  Such  is  the  literal 
meaning  of  the "  evangelist.  These  tongues  "  a/:>peared," 
"/i/ce  OS  of  fire."  Not  burning,  but  brightness  or  illumina- 
tion was  their  characteristic.  Tj:iey  had  thus  the  appear- 
ance of  burning  lamps,  and  seem  evidently  to  have  been 
symbols  of  that  divine  illumination  which  through  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel  was  about  to  be  given  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. In  the  tabernacle  and  temple  stood  the  seven 
branched  golden  candlestick,  with  its  seven  lamps,  which 
were  by  the  priests  daily  replenished  with  oil,  and  kept 
burning  continually.  In  the  opening  of  the  vision  of  the 
Apocalypse,  John  saw  seven  golden  candlesticks,  or  lamp- 
stands,  in  the  midst  of  which  was  one  like  the  Son  of  man, 
in  whose  right  hand  were  seven  stars.  These  stars  were 
the  burning  lamps  of  the  lamj^stands.  (Compare  Rev.  i, 
12,  13,  16,  20;  iii,  1;  and  iv,  5.)  They  were  explained  to 
him.  The  candlesticks  were  the  seven  churches  of  Asia, 
and  the  stars  were  the  angels  of  the  seven  churches. 
There  has  been  some  question  among  expositors,  as  to  the 
form  of  church  government  contemplated  in  this  vision. 
But  the  most  are  agreed  that,  whatever  was  the  form,  the 
angels  were  the  ministry,  conceived  as  lamps  of  light  up- 
borne by  the  churches.  By  this  interpretation,  we  are  led 
to  the  same  understanding  as  to  the  golden  candlestick  in 
the  tabernacle  and  temple,  since  the  scenery  of  the  Reve- 
lation is  a  recognized  transcript  from  the  temple,  which 
was  a  pattern  of  the  heavenly  things.  The  seven  lamps 
shining  as  stars  in  the  darkness  of  the  sanctuary,  through 
the  continual  supply  of  oil  ministered  by  the  priests,  were 
a  beautiful  type  of  the  ministry  and  ordinances  of  the 
cliurch  of  God,  shining  amid  the  moral  darkness  of  the 
world,  through  the  gifts  and   graces  of  the  Spirit  poured 

*Alexander  on  the  Acts. 


312  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

upon  them  by  Jesus,  the  great  high  Priest.  The  day  of 
Pentecost  had  been  predicted  of  old,  as  the  time  of  the 
shedding  of  light  upon  the  Gentiles  by  the  awakened 
church.  ''Arise,  shine;  for  thy  light  is  come  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee.  For  behold  the 
darkness  shall  cover  the  earth  and  gross  darkness  the  peo- 
ple; but  the  Lord  shall  .arise  upon  thee,  and  his  glory 
shall  be  seen  upon  thee.  And  the  Gentiles  shall  come  to 
thy  light,  and  kings  to  the  brightness  of  thy  rising." — Isa. 
Ix,  1-3.  By  Zacharias,  at  the  birth  of  John,  and  by  Sim- 
eon, at  the  presentation  of  Jesus  in,  the  temple.  He  had 
been  described  in  this  character, — "The  dayspring  from  on 
high  hath  visited  us,  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  dark- 
ness and  in  the  shadow  of  death  ;  to  guide  our  feet  into  the 
way  of  peace." — ^Luke  i,  78,  79.  Says  Simeon,  "Mine 
eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation,  which  thou  hast  prepared 
before  the  face  of  all  people, — a  Light  to  lighten  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel." — lb.  ii,  30-32. 
John,  in  the  beginuiug  of  his  gospel  speaks  in  the  same 
manner, — "In  him  was  life  and  the  life  was  the  Light  of 
men,  and  the  Light  shiueth  in  darkness." — John  i,  4,  5. 
Jesus  had  described  the  ministry  of  John,  under  this  figure. 
"He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light." — John  v,  35. 
He  had  distinctly  foretold  his  disciples  that  they  were  or- 
dained to  be  the  light  of  the  Gentiles.  "Ye  are  the  light 
of  the  world.  A  city  that  is  set  on  a  hill  can  not  be  hid. 
Neither  do  men  light  a  candle  (luchiion,  a  lamp),  and  put 
it  under  a  bushel,  but  on  a  candlestick;  and  it  giveth  light 
unto  all  that  are  in  the  house.  Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and  glorify 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven." — Matt,  v,  14-16.  And 
now,  upon  them  waitiug  and  expectant.  He  sheds  down 
the  oil  of  the  Spirit's  grace,  kindles  a  light  upon  every 
brow,  and  inspires  them  to  utter  God's  praises  in  the 
tongues  of  every  land ;  thus,  to  them  signifying  that  the 
time  Avas  come  to  "Arise  and  shine,"  and  to  others  an- 


Skc.  LXIX.]  gift  of  other  tongues.  o\6 

nounciug  that  the  Light  of  the  Gentiles  had  rise;i  upon 
the  world. 

Section  LXIX.— TAe  Giji   of  Otlier  Tongues, 

The  nature  of  this  gift,  and  all  the  circumstances  attend- 
ing it  unite  in  investing  it  with  a  character  of  peculiar  ini- 
pressiveness,  significance  and  propriety  among  the  miracles 
which  attested  the  gospel.  Devotional  in  its  nature,  and 
exercised  in  celebrating  "the  wonderful  works  of  God,"  it 
was  an  indication  of  the  reception  and  enjoyment  by  those 
on  whom  it  fell  of  a  large  measure  of  the  sanctifying  graces 
of  the  Spirit.  The  report  of  it,  spreading  over  Jerusalem, 
was  the  attraction  which  assembled  together  that  vast  com- 
pany, of  whom  three  thousand  were  converted  that  day. 
The  prophetic  nature  of  the  sign  demonstrated  the  identity 
of  the  occasion  with  that  predicted  by  Joel.  And  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  scene, — God's  praises  uttered  in  many  lan- 
guages,— as  the  anticipation  of  a  world-wide  acceptance  of 
the  gospel, — brings  this  sign  into  intimate  accord  with  the 
new  spirit  of  missionary  zeal,  and  the  tongues  as  of  fire, 
which  were  the  other  principal  phenomena  of  the  day.  It 
exhibited,  in  a  figure,  all  the  tribes  and  tongues  of  men, 
till  then  immersed  in  idolatry  and  darkness,  uniting  w4th 
sudden  harmony  in  a  glad  burst  of  praise  to  God  for  the 
wonderful  works  of  his  grace. 

The  conspicuous  position  occupied  by  this  gift  amid 
the  scenes  of  Pentecost  and  the  relation  which  it  sustained 
to  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  as  being  the  most  observ- 
able gift  thereby  bestowed,  occasioned  a  manner  of  ex- 
pression on  the  subject  in  the  book  of  the  Acts,  which  has 
led  to  some  misconception  and  error.  It  consists  in  the  use 
of  the  name  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  of  phrases  respecting 
his  fiilling  on  the  disciples,  being  received  by  them,  etc., 
when  the  subject  spoken  of  is,  not  his  renewing  and  invis- 
ible graces,  but  the  sensible  phenomena  which  attested  the 
preaching  of  the  apostles.     Thus,  Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pen- 

27 


314  THE  GREAT    BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

tecost,  haviug  assured  the  multitude  that  what  they  saw 
and  heard  was  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  '*!  will  pour 
out  of  my  Spirit  on  all  flesh;  and  your  sons  and  your 
daughters  shall  prophecy,"  and  explained  that  Jesus  hav- 
ing received  of  the  Father  the  promised  Spirit,  had  shed 
forth  this  "  which  ye  now  see  and  hearf  exhorted  his.  hear- 
ers to  repent  and  be  baptized,  ''and  ye  shall  receive  the 
Holy  Ghost.  For  the  promise  (by  Joel),  is  to  you  and  to 
your  children  ('  your  sous  and  your  daughters*),  and  to  all 
that  are  afar  off  ('all  flesh')."  Here,  the  assurance  of  re. 
ceiving  the  Holy  Ghost,  upon  condition  of  repentance  and 
baptism,  as  well  as  the  quotation  from  Joel,  shows  that 
Peter  did  not  speak  of  the  renewing  gift  of  the  Spirit; 
which  precedes  and  gives  repentance,  but  of  the  miracu- 
lous gifts  which  followed,  and  which  they  saw  and  heard. 

Again,  upon  the  mission  of  Peter  and  John  to  Samaria, 
it  is  stated  that  they  prayed  for  the  Samaritans,  "  that  they 
might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  as  yet  he  was  fallen 
upon  none  of  them ;  only  they  were  baptized  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Then  laid  they  their  hands  on  them, 
and  they  received  the  Holy  Ghost." — Acts  viii,  14-17. 
Here,  no  distinct  mention  is  made  of  miraculous  endow- 
ments. But  the  manner  in  which  the  gift  was  imparted, 
the  fact  that  they  were  already  believers,  and  especially 
the  proposal  of  Simon  magus,  on  the  occasion,  show  that 
it  was  miraculous  gifts  that  Avere  conferred.  The  sorcerer 
would  have  oifered  no  money  for  the  invisible  renewing 
and  sanctifying  graces  of  the  Spirit.  "Simon  saw  that 
through  the  laying  on  of  the  apostles'  hands  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  given."  And  what  he  saw  was  what  he  sought 
to  purchase.  These  perceptible  and  miraculous  signs  were 
therefore  the  things  intended  in  the  expressions  used,  as  to 
the  receiving  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  his  falling  upon  the 
disciples. 

The  same  manner  of  expression  is  seen  in  the  account 
of  Paul's  interview  with  certain  disciples  of  John  at  Ephe- 


Sec.  LXIX.]  GIFT  OF  OTHER   TONGUES.  315 

sus.  (Acts  xix,  1-7.)  Paul  asked  them,  '*  Have  ye  re- 
ceived tlie  Holy  Ghost,  since  ye  believed?"  So  reads  the 
common  version.  But  it  should  be, — "  (^Elabete,  pisteu- 
santes),  Did  ye,' upon  believing  receive  the  Holy  Ghost?" 
The  question  had  reference  to  the  time  of  their  first  recep- 
tion of  the  gospel.  The  apostle  predicates  his  question 
upon  the  assumption  that  these  men  were  believers ;  and 
he  elsewhere  testifies  that  faith  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit.  It  is  thus  evident,  as  the  sequel  also  shows,  that 
it  was  not  the  ordinary  graces  of  the  Spirit  of  which  Paul 
inquired,  but  his  extraordinary  gifts.  Such  being  the  pur- 
port of  his  question,  the  answer  is  to  be  interpreted  in  ac- 
cordance with  it.  "  They  said  unto  him.  We  have  not  so 
much  as  heard  whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost."  That 
is.  We  have  not  heard  of  the  miraculous  gifts.  "And  he 
said  unto  them,  Unto  what  then  were  ye  baptized?  And 
they  said  unto  him,  Unto  John's  baptism."  So  intimately 
was  Christian  baptism  related  to  the  baptism  and  miracles 
of  Pentecost,  that  Paul  could  not  imagine  any  one  to  have 
received  the  former,  and  yet  remain  ignorant  of  the  latter. 
To  suppose,  as  do  some,  that  these  disciples  of  John  meant 
to  declare  themselves  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  the  Third 
Person  of  the  Godhead,  is  little  short  of  a  contradiction  in 
terms,  in  view  of  the  essential  place  which  was  given  to 
the  Spirit  in  John's  teachings, — even  were  we  to  ignore  the 
Old  Testament  testimonies,  of  which  John's  disciples  can 
not  have  been  ignorant.  What  they  meant,  is  manifest 
from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  narrative.  In  the  result,  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  bestowed  on  them  by  the  laying  on  of 
Paul's  hands,  "and  they  spake  with  tongues,  and  proph- 
esied." That  was  the  subject  of  Paul's  inquiry, — the  sub- 
ject on  which  they  were  ignorant.  And  the  form  of  ex- 
pression is  another  example  of  the  style  of  language  which 
we  have  seen  running  through  the  pages  of  the  Acts  on 
the  subject. 

In  striking  coincidence  with  the  relation  of  this  sign,  as 


316  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  '  [Part  XI. 

representing  the  dissemination  of  the  gospel  to  the  nations 
of  the  Gentiles  was  the  order  of  its  manifestation.  The 
command  of  Jesus  was  that  the  gospel  should  be  preached 
''  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth."  Precisely  this  was  the 
order  of  manifestation  of  the  gift  of  tongues.  First,  it  was 
given  to  the  disciples  assembled  in  Jerusalem  and  repre- 
senting all  Judea,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Then  Philip 
haviug  preached  in  Samaria,  to  the  conversion  of  many, 
Peter  and  John  were  sent  thither ;  and  by  the  laying  on 
of  their  hands,  the  gift  was  conferred  upon  the  Samaritans. 
(Acts  viii,  12-17.)  Afterward,  Peter  was  called  to  the 
house  of  the  Gentile,  Coruelius,  and  upon  his  preaching, 
"the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  that  heard  the  word," 
and  they  spake  with  tongues  and  magnified  God.  (Acts 
X,  44-47.)  Beside  these,  there  is  but  one  other  account, 
in  w^hich  the  manner  of  the  gift  is  indicated.  It  is  the 
case  already  mentioned,  of  the  disciples  of  John  in  Ephe- 
sus.  Respecting  this  sign,  the  following  points  are  to  be 
noticed. 

1.  As  to  its  nature,  it  came  under  the  general  designa- 
tion of  prophecy,  being  an  inspired  utterance  of  the  praises 
of  God  (Luke  i,  67,  68),  in  which  in  the  beginning  at 
least,  all  the  assembly,  men  and  women  united.  (Acts  i, 
14;  ii,  1,  4,  11;  1  Cor.  xi,  5.)  As  such,  Peter  declared 
it  to  be  a  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  of  Joel.  "Your 
sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy.  .  .  .  And  on  my 
servants  and  on  my  handmaidens  I  will  pour  out  of  my 
Spirit,  and  they  shall  prophesy." — vs.  17,  18.  In  this  ex- 
ercise, while  the  hearts  and  affections  of  the  speakers  were 
edified  by  the  Spirit,  in  connection  with  the  utterances 
thus  inspired,  their  understandings  did  not  ordinarily  appre- 
hend the  meaning.  (1  Cor.  xiv,  2,  4,  13,  14,  18,  'l9,  28. 
Compare  Rom.  viii,  26,  27.)  It  was  in  "  another  tongue  " 
than  that  which  was  native  to  the  speaker,  and  usually  to 
him  an  "  unknown  tongue." 


Sec.  LXIX.]  GIFT  OF  OTHER  TONGUES.  317 

2.  It  was  not,  therefore,  desigued  to  facilitate  the  labors 
of  the  apostles,  by  euabling  tliem  to  preach  in  foreign 
languages ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  was 
ever  so  used.  The  Scriptures  are  silent  on  the  subject, 
and  the  traditions  of  the  primitive  church  to  that  effect 
are  worthless.  Its  design  seems  to  have  been  two-fold, — 
the  edifying  of  those  upon  whom  the  gift  was  bestowed ; — 
and,  for  a  sign  to  the  hearers.  (1  Cor.  xiv,  22.)  Of  what 
it  was  a  sign,  intimation  has  been,  alread}^,  given.  It  was  a 
token  that  henceforth  the  Spirit  of  all  grace  would  be 
bestowed  as  freely,  and  work  as  effectually,  in  the  hearts 
of  Gentiles,  as  of  the  Jews ;  and  that  God's  praises  thus 
inspired  would  ])e  equally  acceptable  to  him  in  every  tongue 
and  from  every  people. 

3.  Being  intended  as  a  sign  of  the  ingathering  of  the 
Gentiles,  it  seems  at  first,  and  until  the  minds  of  the  disci- 
ples had  become  fully  imbued  with  that  idea,  to  have  been 
very  abundantly  bestowed,  and  especially  at  Jerusalem, 
the  centre  whence  the  healing  waters  were  to  flow.  In 
fact,  its  value  as  a  great  public  sign  depended  materially 
upon  the  abundance  of  the  gift,  whereby,  as  on  the  first 
occasion,  it  presented  a  figure  of  all  nations  uniting  in  the 
worship  of  the  true  God  and  our  Savior.  But  as  the  idea 
became  familiar  to  the  mind  of  the  church,  and  the  churches 
of  the  Gentiles  multiplied,  this  gift  seems  to  have  fallen 
gradually  into  a  subordiuate  place,  among  the  many  with 
which  the  church  was  endowed.  (1  Cor.  xii,  1-10.)  The 
occasion  of  its  importance  as  a  public  sign  having  passed 
away,  its  chief  value  now  consisted  in  the  spiritual  edifica- 
tion which  was  ministered  to  the  possessors  themselves,  in 
its  exercise  (lb.  xiv) ;  and  it  gradually  disappeared  from 
the  church. 

4.  As  the  apostles  were  the  official  witnesses,  appointed 
by  the  Lord  Jesus  to  testify  of  his  resurrection  and  exalta- 
tion to  the  baptizing  throne,  this  sign  was  at  first  given  in 
immediate  connection  with,  and  confirmation  of,  their  per- 


318  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

sonal  testimony.  It  was  also,  with  a  like  intimate  rela- 
tion to  their  witnessing  office,  conferred  by  the  laying  on 
of  their  hands,  upon  disciples  who  had  been  gathered  in 
by  the  ministry  of  others.  Apart  from  the  personal  pres- 
ence and  ministry  of  the  apostles,  in  one  or  other  of  these 
forms,  there  is  no  Scriptural  intimation,  nor  reason  to  be- 
lieve, that  it  was  ever  bestowed. 

Section  LXX. — Tlie  Baptisyn  of  Repentance  for  the  Remis- 
sion of  Sins. 

We  have  yet  to  contemplate  the  chief  and  crowning 
glory  of  Pentecost.  The  endowments  conferred  on  the 
apostles,  and  the  new  spirit  infused  into  the  church,  were 
but  subsidiary  means ;  glorious  indeed ;  but  only  as  they 
ministered  to  a  more  glorious  end.  The  signs  and  wonders 
of  the  day  were  but  an  index  hand  which  pointed  away 
from  themselves,  and  directed  all  interest  and  attention  to 
that  end.  It  appears,  in  the  baptism  of  repentance,  then 
first  administered  by  the  ascended  Savior  from  his  throne ; 
the  first  fruits  of  which  were  the  three  thousand  converts 
of  that  day,  and  the  harvest  of  which  still  coming  in,  will 
only  then  be  complete,  when  all  his  redeemed  shall  have 
been  gathered  from  every  nation  and  kindred  and  people 
and  tongue. 

The  baptism  of  John  is  called  "the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance."— Acts  xix,  4.  But  it  was  so,  only  as  the  rock  in  the 
wilderness  was  Christ ;  only  as  the  bread  and  cup  of  the 
supper  are  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord.  "  The  baj> 
tism  of  repentance,  for  the  remission  of  sins"  which  he 
preached  (Mark  i,  4),  was  not  his  own.  lie  preached 
*'  saying  that  they  should  believe  on  him  that  should  come 
after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus." — Acts  xix,  4.  He 
confessed  his  own  weakness,  and  the  emptiness  and  futility 
of  his  own  baptism,  which  was  only  a  symbol,  calling  men 
to  repentance,  but  without  power  to  confer  it.  "  I,  indeed 
baptize  you  with  water,  unto  repentance ;  but  he  that  com- 


Sec.  LXX.]        THR  BAPTISM  OF  REPENTANCE.  319 

etli  after  me  is  mightier  than  I,  whose  shoes  I  am  not 
worthy  to  bear;  he  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost." — 
Matt,  iii,  11.  Jesus,  after  his  resurrection,  told  his  dis- 
ciples,— "  Thus  it  is  written  and  thus  it  behooved  Christ  to 
sufler,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day ;  and  that  re- 
peiitaiice  aiid  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name, 
among  all  nations." — Luke  xxiv,  46,  47.  A  few  days  after 
the  baptism  of  Pentecost  had  been  received,  Peter,  in  the 
presence  of  the  rulers  of  Israel,  testified. — "  Him  hath  God 
exalted  with  his  right  hand ;  a  Prince  and  Savior,  for  to 
give  repentance  to  Israel,  and  ihQ  forgiveness  of  sins."  Acts 
v,  31.  "  The  forgiveness  of  sins,"  here,  is  the  same  in  the 
original,  as  "  the  remission  of  sins,"  in  the  other  places, 
and  especially  in  the  statement  concerning  John's  preach- 
ing. This  identity  of  language  is  undoubtedly  designed  to 
indicate  identity  of  subject.  The  baptism  which  John 
preached, — that  of  which  his  own  was  the  figure, — was  the 
true  baptism  of  repentance  and  remission,  which  Jesus  was 
enthroned  to  dispense, — the  baptism  which,  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  he  bestowed,  by  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit, 
whose  office  it  is  to  work  repentance  and  to  seal  remission. 
The  doctrine  concerning  this  baptism,  may  be  thus  briefly 
summed.  By  it,  as  given  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Spirit  is 
breathed  into  the  subjects  of  grace,  entering  them  as  a 
Spirit  of  life.  This  is  regeneration,  the  immediate  effect 
of  which  is  a  new  nature  formed  after  the  image  of  God  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness.  The  indwelling  Spirit  and 
tlie  new  nature,  inspired  by  him,  lust  against  the  flesh  and 
loathe  sin ;  and  by  consequence  induce  a  true  repentance 
and  turning  from  it,  and  a  pursuit  after  holiness.  At  the 
same  time,  the  Spirit  with  which  they  are  baptized,  being 
in  Christ  as  the  head  and  source  of  life  to  all  the  body, 
and  in  them  as  members,  unites  them  to  Him  by  such  a 
tie, — the  tie  of  the  one  infinite  Spirit  common  to  both ;  so 
that  they  are,  with  him,  one  body,  and  therefore,  in  him,  par- 
take in  the  merits  of  his  righteousness,  and  in  it  are  justified. 


320  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER,  [Part  XI. 

In  that  last  discourse  of  our  Savior,  to  which  we  have 
ah-eady  so  fully  referred, — that  discourse  which  was  an  im- 
mediate anticipation  and  prophecy  of  Pentecost, — this  sub- 
ject is  presented  in  a  form  of  great  interest  and  promi- 
nence. In  fact,  the  thoughtful  reader  will  find  that  entire 
discourse  to  center  upon  the  two  correlative  ideas  of  the 
unity  of  the  Persons  in  the  Godhead,  and  the  uuity  of 
believers,  in  Christ.  Moreover,  these  two  doctrines  are 
presented  as  sustaining  the  most  intimate  relation  to  each 
other.  In  answer  to  Philip's  request,  ''Lord  show  us  the 
Father,"  Jesus  emphasizes  with  reiteration  his  own  unity 
with  the  Father,  and  exhorts  the  disciples,  "Believe  me 
that  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me."  Then, 
having  promised  to  secure  for  them  the  presence  and  illumi- 
nation of  the  Comforter,  he  says,  "Yet  a  little  w^hile  and 
the  w^orld  seeth  me  no  more,  but  ye  see  me;  because  I 
live,  ye  shall  live  also.  At  that  day,  ^/e  ^loll  knoiv  that  1 
am  m  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me  and  I  in  you.'' — ^John  xiv, 
8-11,  19,  20.  This  he  illustrates  by  a  parable.  "I  am 
the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches.  He  that  abideth  in  me, 
and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit,  for  Avith- 
out  me  (severed  from  me)  ye  can  do  nothing." — lb.  xy, 
1-8.  In  the  wonderful  prayer  which  closed  that  discourse, 
Jesus  recurs  to  this  theme,  in  language  which  from  any 
other  lips  would  have  seemed  profane,  so  closely  does 
he  identify  us  w^ith  the  glory  of  the  Godhead.  "Neither 
pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which  shall  be- 
lieve on  me  through  their  word,  that  they  all  may  be  one; 
as  thou  Father  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also 
may  be  one  in  us ;  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou 
hast  sent  me.  And  the  glory  w^hich  thou  gavest  me  I  have 
given  them;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  w^e  are  one; 
I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect 
in  one;  and  that  the  Avorld  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent 
me,  and  hast  loved  them  as  thou  hast  loved  me." — lb. 
xvii,  20-23.      The   "glory"  which   the   Father   gave   the 


Skc.  lxx.]      the  baptism  of  repentance.  321 

Son  and  Jesus  gives  his  people,  "that  they  may  be  one," 
is  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  called  "the  Spirit  of  glory  and 
of  God,"  who  rests  on  his  people  (1  Peter  iv,  14),  and 
"the  glory  of  the^  Father,"  by  whom  Christ  was  raised 
from  the  dead.  (Rom.  vi,  4.  Compare  viii,  11 ;  and  1 
Peter  iii,  18.) 

Such  is  the  relation  which  by  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
is  established  between  Christ  and  the  Father  and  believers. 
Touching  the  manner  and  process  of  it,  the  following  are 
the  most  important  points. 

1.  Each  Person  of  the  Godhead  severally  co-ojDerates  in 
this  work  of  grace.  The  Father  is  its  Author  and  source, 
by  whom  the  Sod  was  commissioned  for  its  execution  and 
the  Spirit  given  him  to  that  end.  Hence,  this  gift  of  the 
Spirit  to  the  people  of  God,  w^hilst  made  through  the  Son, 
is  constantly  referred  to  the  Father,  as  being  primarily  aud 
essentially  his  gift.  The  Son,  having  purchased  salvation 
through  the  blood  of  his  cross,  is  commissioned  as  sovereign 
administrator,  to  dispense  it  to  the  redeemed, — "  to  give 
eternal  life  to  as  many  as  the  Father  hath  given  him." — 
John  xvii,  2.  In  fulfilling  this  office,  he,  as  the  Father's 
representative  and  likeness,  "  can  do  nothing  of  himself, 
but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  do."  And  as  the  Father, 
having  life  in  himself,  has  given  to  the  Son  to  have  life  in 
himself,  and  to  quicken  whom  he  will  (John  v,  19-30),  he 
bestows  his  salvation  and  quickens  his  people,  by  shedding 
on  tliem  that  Spirit  of  life  which  the  Father  shed  on  him. 
The  Spirit,  thus  given,  dwells  in  the  believer  in  his  own 
proper  character,  as  being  the  efficient  cause  of  life  and 
holiness. 

2.  AU  is  postulated  upon  the  fact  that  the  Spirit,  as 
given  to  and  dwelling  in  all  fullness  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  is 
the  principle  and  spirit  of  his  life ;  by  which  he  was  born 
of  the  virgin ;  by  which  he  lived  in  holiness,  and  offered 
himself  a  spotless  victim  to  justice;  by  which  he  was 
quickened  and  rose  from  the  dead,  and  which,  as  his  Spirit, 


322  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

the   breath   of  his  nostrils,   he   now   breathes  into  whom 
he  will. 

3.  In  baptizing  his  people,  he  imparts  to  them  the  same 
Spirit  which  is  thus  in  him,  to  be  in  them  the  Spirit  of 
life,  making  their  bodies  his  temples  and  instruments 
(1  Cor.  vi,  19  ;  Rom.  vi,  13) ;  and  their  souls  the  subjects 
of  his  pervasive  and  transforming  power.    (Rom.  viii,  4,  5.) 

4.  In  this  baptism,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  sent  as  an 
outside  messenger  or  agent, — a  third  party  coming  jrom 
Jesus  to  the  objects  of  his  grace.  To  impress  us  with  the 
height  of  his  throne  and  the  exaltation  of  his  majesty,  he 
says,  "I  will  %end  him  unto  you."  But,  in  the  same  dis- 
course, he  also  says,  "At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I 
am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me  and  I  in  you ;"  and  more- 
over promises,  that  "  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my 
words,  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  tt'e  will  come 
unto  him  and  make  our  abode  w^ith  him." — John  xiv,  20,  23. 
The  Father  and  the  Son  are  just  as  nigh  the  believer  as  is 
the  Holy  Spirit,  whose  office  it  is  to  attest  their  presence 
and  interpret  their  communications  to  the  soul.  Since  the 
Spirit  is  "  the  Spirit  of  Christ," — is  given  to  him  and 
remains  in  him  in  all  fullness,  it  follows,  that  only  in  him, 
can  any  one  receive  or  enjoy  the  indwelling  and  graces  of 
the  Spirit.  Hence,  the  style  in  which,  in  the  narrative  of 
Pentecost,  the  baptism  is  spoken  of,  not  as  the  sending 
of  a  person,  but  the  shedding  down  of  an  element.  "  He 
hath  shed  forth  this."^  Hence  the  manner  in  which,  in 
Peter's  quot^ation  from  Joel,  it  is  repeatedly  said,  "I  will 
pour  out  of  my  Spirit." — Acts  ii,  17,  18.  And  hence  the 
interpretation  which  Jesus,  by  anticipation,  gave  to  the 
Pentecostal  baptism ;  when  he  breathed  on  the  disciples 
and  said,  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost;"  and  the  sign 
of  the  outbreathed  mighty  breath.  Hence  Paul's  testi- 
mony,— "Your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God;"  and  his 
declaration  as  to  himself, — "I  live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ 

*  TovTo,  in  the  neuter  gender. 


Skc.  LXXL]  PAUL'S  DOCTRINE  OF  IT.  323 

liveth  in  me."  Christ  and  bis  people  breathe  one  Spirit 
and  live  one  life.  Baptized  by  that  one  Spirit  into  one  body, 
and  all  made  to  drink  of  that  one  Spirit,  they  are  thus  one 
with  him,  "  members  of  his  body,  of  his  flesh  and  of  his 
bones." — Eph.  v,  30.  This  union  is  only  less  close  and  inti- 
mate than  that  of  the  Father  and  the  Son.  (John  xvii,  21.) 
On  it  depends  the  whole  process  of  justification  and  grace. 

Section  LXXI. — Paul's  Doctrine  of  this  Baptism. 

Paul,  in  one  brief  sentence  gives  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  manner  and  results  of  this  Baptism.  "After  that 
the  kindness  and  love  of  God  our  Savior  toward  man  ap- 
peared, not  by  works  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done, 
but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us,  by  the  washing 
of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
he  shed  on  us  abundantly,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Savior; 
that  being  justified  by  his  grace,  we  should  be  made  heirs, 
according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life." — Titus  iii,  4-7. 

Here,  an  amendment  is  proposed,  in  the  fifth  verse,  so 
as  to  read, — "the  laver  (loutrou)  of  regeneration."  Bishop 
Ellicott  declares  this  rendering  to  be  "indisputable."* 
Other  expositors  favor  it,  and  the  Committees  of  revision 

*Ellicott's  Commentary,  on  Eph.  v,  26.  On  the  mode  of 
baptism,  circumstances  detract  greatly  from  the  authority  of 
divines  of  the  English  church.  The  doctrine  of  that  body  on 
the  prerogative  of  tlie  church  to  ordain  rites  and  ceremonies 
has  a  double  effect.  On  the  one  hand,  it  takes  away  the  motive 
to  a  thorough  study  of  the  Scriptural  evidence  on  the  subject. 
On  the  other,  it  induces  a  sense  of  satisfaction  in  admitting 
that  the  apostolic  mode  of  baptism  was  by  immersion,  and  then 
pointing  to  the  contrary  form  now  in  use,  as  an  illustration  of 
the  exercise  of  the  church's  authority  over  the  matter.  When 
to  this  is  added  the  veneration  cherished  for  "  the  primitive 
church  "  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  in  which  immersion 
had  gained  extensive  footing,  and  the  recognition  of  that  form 
in  the  ruhric  for  baptism,  hereafter  quoted  (below,  p.  354),  we 
will  be  justified  in  looking  farther  before  accepting,  as  conclu- 
sive, the  judgment,  however  pronounced,  of  divines  of  that 
church. 


324  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

of  the  New  Testament  have  honored  it  by  inserting  the 
word,  in  the  margin  of  the  Revised  Version,  here,  and  in 
Eph.  V,  26.  A  rendering  thus  importunate  and  intrusive, 
necessitates  a  critical  examination.  The  first  point  to  be 
noticed  is  that  the  word,  laver,  is  ambiguous;  and  in  the 
sense  which  is  assumed  in  its  insertion  in  the  text,  is  with- 
out warrant  in  the  Greek  language  or  customs.  "We 
know  very  little  of  the  baths  of  the  Athenians  during  the 
republican  period;  for  the  account  of  Luciau,  in  his  Hip- 
pias,  relates  to  baths  constructed  after  the  Roman  model. 
On  ancient  vases,  on  which  persons  are  represented  bath- 
ing, we  never  find  any  thing  corresponding  to  a  modern 
bath,  in  which  persons  can  stand  or  sit ;  but  there  is 
always  a  round  or  oval  basin  (bitter  or  loiiterioii) ,  resting 
on  a  stand,  by  the  side  of  which  those  who  are  bathing 
are  represented  standing  undressed  and  washing  themselves, 
as  seen  in  the  following  wood-cut,  taken  from  Sir.  W. 
Hamilton's  vases."  ^  The  vessels  used  by  the  Greeks  in 
bathing  were,  (1)  the  asaminthos,  in  which,  sometimes,  the 
bather  sat,  while  the  water  was  poured  over  him,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  bath  of  Ulysses;  (2)  the  loider,  the  laver ^ 
a  vessel  neither  in  size  nor  proportions  adapted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  immersion,  nor  ever  so  employed,  but  designed 
and  used  as  a  containing  vessel  for  the  water;  (3)  the 
pitcher  or  dipper  (arutaina),  Avith  which  water  was  taken 
from  the  laver,  and  poured  over  the  bather.  There  was 
no  bath  tub,  nor  provision  of  any  kind  for  immersion. 
The  mode  of  bathing  appears  in  the  story,  in  Theophrastus, 
of  one  who  entered  the  bathroom  (bahneion),  and  not  being 
promptly  waited  on,  dipping  the  ladle,  (arufaina),  poured 
it  over  his  own  person,  and  declared  himself  bathed,  "no 
thanks  to  you."t 

*  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities, 
article,  "Balnese."  The  engravings  referred  to,  will  be  found 
on  pages  200,  207,  above. 

tBdi/^af  apvraivav,  avrbq  eavrbv  Karax^aodai,  Kal  ecttev  on  /i£?MVTai. 
Theophrastus,  Char.  16  (9). 


Sec.  LXXL]  PAUL'S  DOCTRINE  OF  IT.  325 

The  word  loutron  was  used,  (1)  for  the  ivater  of  the 
bath.  In  Athenseus,  tlie  question  is  asked,  why  hot  springs 
(tJienna  loutra),  appearing  out  of  the  ground,  are  by  all 
declared  sacred  to  Hercules,  if  warm  bathing  was  an  un- 
manly luxury,  as  some  asserted.^  To  the  same  point,  in 
Aristophanes,  the  question  occurs, — "  Where  did  you  ever 
see  cold  Heracleian  baths  (loutra)T^  In  Sophocles,  CEdipus 
directs  his  daughters  "to  bring  a  hath  (loutra)  of  running 
waters."!  Homer  represents  the  curly  headed  Hecameda 
heating  a  warm  bath  (hetra).  \\  And  Euripides  describes 
Antigone  pleading  to  be  allowed  "to  pour  waters  (loutra) 
over  the  corpse"  of  Polynices;§  that  is,  to  bathe  it  for 
burial.  In  this  use  of  the  word,  together  with  the  mode 
of  bathing  by  the  pouring  of  successive  dippers,  or  waters, 
over  the  person,  is  explained  the  fact  that  the  word  is 
very  rarely  found  in  the  singular  number,  and  in  Homer, 
the  oldest  of  the  classics,  never;  although  in  its  plural 
form  (loetra,  contract,  loutra),  it  frequently  occurs  in  his 
poems.  This  fact  is  very  strongly  against  the  supposition 
that  the  word  contained  any  allusion  to  the  bathing  vessel, 
which  would  demand  the  singular  number. 

The  word  designated  (2.)  the  washing  which  was  accom- 
plished by  the  water.  In  the  comedies  of  Aristophanes, 
the  women  in  revolt,  warn  the  men  who  threaten  to  assail 
them, — "If  you  happen  to  have  soap,  we  will  give  you 
a  bath  (loutron) ;"  which  they  do,  by  dashing  buckets  of 
Avater  over  them.  Thereupon,  the  men  run  to  the  police, 
complaining, — "Do  you  not  know  what  a  ivashimj  (loutron) 
these  have  washed  us,  just  now,  and  that  in  our  clothes, 
and  without  soap?''**    The  idiomatic  expression  here  ("  to 

*  Athen?eus,  Deipnosoph.  xii,  6  (512). 
t  Aristophanes,  Xub.  lOol. 

XUvuyet  pvrcjv  'vddruv  eveynelv  ?.nvTna.     Soph.,  CEd.  Col.  1508. 
II  EiaoKe  ^tpfia  ?.oeTfja  fi);r/om/iOf  'E/ca/z^rJ^  ^Ep/njvri. — Iliad  xiv,  6. 
gE^  (5'  a'/./A  vFKpC)  'MVTpa  irepifia/.uv  //'  ia. — Eurip.,  Plioen.  UUiT. 
**0?''«  oloBa  /.oxrrpbv  o\ov  aK^  rjudg  eXovaav  apri. — Aristophanes, 
Lysist.  377,  4G9. 


326  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

wash  a  washing"),  indicates  how  very  close  is  the  relation 
between  the  verb  loxio^  to  wash,  and  its  derivative,  loutron, 
a  washing.  The  one  expresses  the  action,  or  doing ;  the 
other,  the  thing  done.  The  same  idiom  presents  itself  in 
Antigone's  account  of  the  obsequies  of  her  slain  brother 
Polynices.  "  Washing  it  a  pure  washing  (lousantes  agnon 
loutron),"  they  gathered  leaves,  and  burned  "  the  poor 
remains."* 

As  bathing  was  performed  by  the  outpouring  of  water 
on  the  person,  the  word  was  thence  used  (3.)  to  designate 
libations,  performed  by  a  like  outpouring  of  water,  in  honor 
of  gods  or  heroes.  Thus,  Agamemnon  having  been  mur- 
dered at  the  instigation  of  his  wife  Clytemnestra,  Orestes 
pours  (loutra)  libations  at  his  father's  tomb  ;t  and  Electra 
dissuades  her  sister  Chrysothemis  from  fulfilling  her  moth- 
er's commission,  to  oifer  ((loutra)  libations  at  the  same  place, 
as  a  means  of  averting  coming  vengeance.  J 

The  word  designates  (4.)  a  bathing  place.  Plutarch 
describes  Alexander  as  speaking  of  "  having  washed  off 
the  sweat  of  battle  (loutro)  with  the  bath  of  Darius. "||  In 
such  passages,  the  controlling  idea  is  not  a  supposed  bath- 
ing vessel,  but  the  cleansing  water  of  the  bath ;  as  is  here 
indicated  by  the  form  of  the  participle  '^(ajoolousamenoi),  hav- 
ing w^ashed  off;"  and  by  the  instrumental  dative  ''(lovtro'), 
with  the  bath;"  which  show  that,  whatever  the  construction 
of  the  bathing  place  of  Darius,  the  Greek  mode  was  pres- 
ent in  the  mind  of  Alexander.  The  idea  of  loutron  is 
further  illustrated  by  its  compounds.  At  Athens,  before 
a  marriage,  the  bride  was  bathed  with  water  brought  from 
the  fountain  of  Callirhoe,  by  a  young  girl,  who  was  hence 
called    (lie    loutrophoros) ,  "the    bath-water    carrier."     So, 


■'■■Sophocles,  Antigone,  1201. 
t  Uarpoq  x^ovreq  "kovrpd.     Sophocles.     Elect.  84. 
X  Ov6e  Tiovrpa  irpoacpepeiv  Trarpi     lb.  434. 

II  'lojuev^  airoXovadjievot  top  cltto  r^g  fJ-c-XVQ  Idpura  r(I)  AapEiov  ?.ovTp(b. 
Plutarch,  Alexand.  20. 


Sec.  LXXL]  PAUL' S  DOCTRINE  OF  IT.  327 

the  fee  for  the  privilege  of  the  bath,  was,  q)ihutron,—for 
the  hath. 

The  voice  of  the  classics  is  clearly  against  the  rendering 
in  question.  The  fact  that  the  Greeks  are  entirely  silent 
as  to  a  Avashiug  by  immersion,  or  any  vessel  for  the  pur- 
pose,— the  distinct  name  of  louter  given  to  the  only  vessel 
that  contained  water, — the  bathing  performed  by  pouring, — 
the  use  of  louiron  to  express  such  bathing,  and  to  designate 
the  water  itself,  where  there  was  no  vessel,  and  libations, 
in  which  there  was  water  poured  out,  but  no  laver,  nor 
bathing, — the  primitive  and  peculiar  employment  of  the 
word  in  the  plural  number, — and  the  derivatives  formed 
from  it,  all  inure  to  the  one  conclusion.  At  least,  in  classic 
Greek,  loutron  does  not  mean,  a  laver,  but  water  for  washing, 
and  the  washing  accomplished  by  it ;  and  that,  with  intimate 
reference  to  its  affusion  on  the  person. 

Nor  does  the  Hellenistic  Greek  utter  a  different  testi- 
mony. In  the  Song  of  Songs,  it  is  said, — "  Thy  teeth  are 
like  a  flock,  shorn,  which  came  up  from  the  luashing  (apo  tou 
loutroii)."  So  reads  the  Septuagint.  From  Ecclesiasticus 
(above,  p.  169)  we  have  the  proverb,  '*  He  that  is  baptized 
from  the  dead,  and  again  toucheth  the  dead,  what  availeth 
his  washing  (loutro)  ?"  Here,  cleansing  by  the  sprinkled 
Avater  of  separation  is  called  loutron,  a  washing.  So  Philo 
(above,  p.  175)  describes  the  purifying  rites,  the  washings 
(butra)  and  the  sprinklings,  of  the  Jews.  Josephus  says 
of  the  two  springs  of  Machserus,  near  the  Dead  Sea,  the 
one  hot,  and  the  other  cold,  that  "  when  mingled  together 
they  make  a  most  pleasant  bath  (loutron). "^-^  And  Paul, 
himself,  writes  that  Christ  gave  himself  for  the  church, 
''  that  he  might  cleanse  it,  purifying  it  with  the  wash- 
ing (to  loutro)  of  water."  Here  the  new  version  must 
cither  make  nonsense  of  tlie  passage,  or  do  violence  to  tlie 
Greek.  Either  it  must  re^d,  "  purifying  it  with  the  laver," 
that  is,  with  the  bath  tub,  not  the  washing;  or,  "m  the 

*  Jewish  War.     VII,  vi,  3. 


328  THE  GREAT  DAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

laver,"  a  rendering  forbidden  by  the  instrumental  dative 
(to  loutro.) 

On  the  other  hand,  in  more  than  a  dozen  places, — 
wherever  the  la  vers  of  the  tabernacle  and  the  temple  are 
mentioned,  the  Septuagint  is  louter, — the  same  word,  in  the 
same  sense  in  which  it  was  used  by  the  Greeks  to  desig- 
nate the  containing  vessel.  In  a  word,  neither  in  the 
classics,  nor  in  Hellenistic  Greek,  is  loutron  ever  found  in 
the  sense  of  a  laver,  or  bathing  vessel.  Or,  if  it  is  so  used, 
the  Lexicons  ignore  it ;  Stephanus,  in  his  great  Thesaurus, 
knows  nothing  of  it ;  and  the  advocates  of  that  rendering 
do  not  adduce  it.  And  were  such  example  found,  it  would 
be  wholly  insignificant  as  to  the  interpretation  of  Paul,  in 
presence  of  all  these  facts. 

If  now,  we  ask  for  the  evidence  in  favor  of  the  new 
version,  the  answer  presents  two  i^omts,— first,  that  certain 
versions  of  the  New  Testament, — the  Vulgate,  Claromon- 
tauus,  Syriac,  and  Gothic, — have  so  translated  loutron;  and 
second,  that  in  accordance  with  Greek  usage,  the  termina- 
tion, on  (loutro?i),  justifies  J:he  assumption  that  the  word 
designates  an  instrumental  object.  As  to  the  first  consid- 
eration,— it  may  be  asserted  with  confidence  that  we  are 
as  fully  possessed  of  the  means  of  determining  the  question 
as  were  the  unknown  authors  of  those  versions ;  and  the 
growing  prevalence  at  that  time,  of  a  ritualistic  spirit  in 
the  church,  and  the  consequent  introduction  of  the  form 
of  immersion,  sufiiciently  account  for  the  rendering,  apart 
from  any  critical  considerations.  Respecting  the  termina- 
tion, on,  the  number  of  examples  in  which  it  is  found  in 
words  that  designate  instrumental  objects  is  too  few  to  es- 
tablish a  rule.  But  were  it  accepted  as  decisive,  the  whole 
weight  of  its  authority  is  against,  instead  of  being  in  favor 
of  the  proposed  amendment.  A  laver,  and  especially  a 
Greek  laver,  is  no  instrument  *of  bathing.  Perhaps  the 
arutaina,  the  dipper,  might  be  so  called.  But  the  water  ^ 
and  the  ivashmg,  each  are  instrumental  causes  of  the  deam- 


Sec.  LXXI.]  PAUL'S  DOCTRINE  OF  IT.  329 

inq,  the  salvation  ;  of  which,  in  the  text,  the  apostle  says, — 
"  he  saved  us  {d'm  loutro)  by  meam  of  the  ivashing."  Nor 
do  the  classics  ignore  this  relation.  Plato  (above,  p.  181) 
asks  concerning  "  the  washings  (loutro)  and  sprinklings," — 
"Are  they  not  effectual  to  one  end,  to  render  a  man  pure, 
both  as  to  body  and  soul?" 

In  the  text,  loutron  means,  the  washing,  but  with  inti- 
mate reference  to  the  water  as  the  means, — a  sense  which 
we  have  just  seen  illustrated  from  the  classics.  Strictly, 
the  regeneration  is  the  washing,  of  which  the  water  is  the 
instrument.  The  figure  thus  used,  the  apostle  immediately 
explains.  "The  washing  of  regeneration,  even  the  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost."  As  water  is  the  instrument  of 
washing,  so  the  Spirit  shed  down  by  Jesus  Christ  is  the  in- 
strument of  that  spiritual  work  which  is  indicated  alike 
by  the  two  identical  words,  regeneration,  and  renewing. 
Paul  then  proceeds  with  the  pronoun  "  which," — equally 
appropriate,  in  the  construction  of  the  original,  to  the  water 
(loutrou),  or  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  its  antecedent;  and, 
in  fact,  referring  to  both,  as  identified  in  one, — "which 
water,  even  the  Spirit,  he  shed  on  us  abundantly  (dia)  by 
the  hand  of  Jesus  Christ."  Orestes  speaks  of  himself  and 
companions  "  (cheontes  loutra)  pouring  water"  of  libation  at 
the  tomb.  So  Paul  speaks  of  ^^  {loutrou  hon  execheeu)  the 
water  of  cleansing  which  He  shed  forth  on  us."  In  the 
latter  case,  the  prefix,  ex,  emphasizes  the  source  of  the 
outpouring,  but  otherwise  the  conception  and  action  of  the 
two  passages  is  the  same.  By  the  hand  of  his  Son,  God 
the  Father  from  on  high  sheds  his  Spirit,  and  baptizes  us 
with  his  renewing  power.  Thereby  united  to  the  Lord 
Jesus,  we  are  thus  invested  with  his  righteousness,  and  so, 
says  the  text,  "are  justified  by  his  grace."  And  since  by 
the  same  union  we  share  his  relation  as  Sou; — "if  sons, 
thou  heirs,"  "according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life." 

This  baptism  of  the  Spirit  is  the  theme  of  frequent  dis- 
cussion in  Paul's  writings.     lie  particularly  dwells  on  it  as 

2S 


330  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

being  the  instrumental  cause  of  that  intimate  unity  which  ex- 
ists in  the  body  of  Christ,  and  of  equality  in  privilege  among 
all  the  members,  Jews  and  Gentiles.  "As  the  body  is  one, 
and  hath  many  members,  and  all  the  members  of  that  one" 
body,  being  many  are  one  body,  so  also  is  Christ.  For,  by  one 
Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether  we  be  Jews 
or  Gentiles,  whether  we  be  bond  or  free ;  and  have  been  all 
made  to  drink  one  Spirit.  .  .  .  Novv^  ye  are  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  members  in  particular." — 1  Cor.  xii,  12-14,  27. 
Here,  the  figure  of  baptism  is  followed  u]^  by  the  expres- 
sion, "have  been  all  made  to  drink  one  Spirit;" — literally, 
"  have  been  all  watered  with  one  Spirit."  The  preposition, 
(eis)  "mto  one  Spirit,"  is  rejected  by  the  critical  editors  as 
spurious;  and  the  verb  {^otizo)  means,  to  oj9/;/?/  water, 
either  externally  or  internally, — to  water,  to  cause  to  drink. 
Compare  in  the  same  epistle,  1  Cor.  iii,  2,  "  I  have /ec?  i/ait 
(epotisa)  with  milk;"  and  Q-S, — "Apollos  luatered  (ejMisen).^' 

The  same  point  is  set  forth  in  another  epistle — "En- 
deavoring to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace.  There  is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit ;  even  as  ye  are 
called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling ;  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  you  all.  But  unto  every  one  of  us  is 
given  grace,  according  to  the  measure  of  the  gift  of 
Christ.  .  .  .  That  we  henceforth  be  no  more  children,  .  .  . 
but  speaking  the  truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  into  him  in 
all  things,  which  is  the  Head,  even  Christ,  from  whom  the 
whole  body,  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that 
which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  efl^ectual 
w^orkiug  in  the  measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of 
the  body,  unto  the  edifying  of  itself  in  love." — Eph.  iv, 
3-16. 

That  the  "one  baptism  "  here  spoken  of  is  that  wherein, 
"by  one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body,"  is  manifest 
from  the  connection  and  the  analogy  of  the  other  passages 
here  presented  above  and  below.    To  suppose  it  to  be  water 


Skc.  LXXL]  PAUL'S  DOCTRINE  OF  IT.  331 

baptism,  would  be  to  make  the  apostle  exclude  that  spiritual 
aud  real  baptism  of  which  water  baptism  is  the  shadow, 
and  to  which,  iu  all  his  writings,  he  coustautly  gives  so 
much  importance  as  the  means  of  the  union  which  he  here 
discusses. 

In  another  place,  the  apostle  represents  this  baptism  as 
merging  all  other  relations  in  the  one  tie  of  identity  with 
Christ.  "As  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into 
Christ,  have  put  on  Christ.  There  is  neither  Jew  nor 
Greek ;  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free ;  there  is  neither 
male  nor  female ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  if 
ye  be  Christ's  then  are  ye  Abraham's  seed,  and  heirs  ac- 
cording to  the  promise." — Gal.  iii,  27-29.  Here,  again,  it 
is  clear  that  the  baptism  spoken. of  is  that  of  the  Spirit. 
The  oneness  with  Christ,  thus  complete  by  this  bap- 
tism, Paul  uses  as  a  powerful  argument  of  the  duty  of  his 
people  to  be  dead  to  the  world  that  crucified  him,  dead  to 
sin  and  all  the  works  of  the  old  man,  and  alive  only  to 
God.  (Rom.  vi,  3-6;  Col.  ii,  9-11.)  These  passages  will 
receive  special  consideration  hereafter. 

The  unity  of  conception  which  pervades  these  Script- 
ures is  manifest,  and  makes  it  evident  that  they  all  contem- 
plate one  and  the  same  baptism,  that  in  which  by  one 
Spirit  all  Christ's  people  are  baptized  into  one  body,  the 
spiritual  body  of  Christ. 

Touching  the  nature  of  this  baptism,  the  following  are 
the  chief  particulars : 

1.  The  entrance  of  the  Spirit  shed  down  by  Jesus  is 
regeneration,  or  the  new  birth.  It  is  the  imparting  of  new 
life  to  the  soul, — the  introduction  of  a  principle  of  grace, 
"  the  new  man,"  which,  like  its  source,  the  eternal  Spirit, 
is  immortal  and  supreme  wherever  it  exists;  and  which, 
sustained  and  nourished  by  the  indwelling  Spirit,  will  grow 
and  expand  until  it  gains  full  and  exclusive  possession  of 
all  the  faculties  and  powers,  making  the  soul  its  seat,  the 
body  its  temple,  and  the  members  its  instruments. 


332  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XI. 

2.  Coincident  with  this  is  the  death  of  the  old  man, 
the  destruction  of  the  controlling  principle  and  power  of 
evil  in  the  soul.  Hitherto,  it  reigned  supreme.  But  now, 
slain;  and,  cast  out,  it  remains,  a  "  body  of  death"  in  the 
members;  offensive  in  its  corruption,  and  by  its  loathsome- 
ness acting  as  a  stimulus  to  the  opposing  principle  of 
grace.     (Rom.  vii,  24.) 

3.  The  result  is,  that  whereas,  formerly,  the  sinful  aftec- 
tions  "  did  work  in  our  members  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto 
death,"  "now,  being  made  free  from  sin  and  become  serv- 
ants to  God,"  his  people  have  "  their  fruit  unto  holiness." — 
Rom.  vii,  5;  vi,  22. 

4.  The  Spirit  thus  given  is  not  a  transient  influence ; 
but  is  within  the  believer,  a  well  of  living  water,  spring- 
ing up  unto  everlasting  hfe ; — a  w^ell,  from  which  it  is  his 
privilege  at  all  times  to  drink  of  that  one  Spirit.  Thereby, 
''  to  every  one  of  us  is  given  grace  according  to  the  meas- 
ure of  the  gift  of  Christ;"  so  that  we  "  grow  up  into  him 
in  all  things  which  is  the  Head,  even  Christ." — Eph.  iv, 
7,  15.     Thus  grace  is  nourished,  in  preparation  for  glory. 

5.  While  such  are  the  effects  of  this  baptism  on  the  spir- 
itual condition  of  the  redeemed,  equally  important  are  its 
influences  on  their  external  relations.  The  first  is  their 
justification.  United  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  members  of  his 
body,  the  consequence  is  that  their  sius  are  laid  to  the 
charge  of  their  Head,  and  satisfaction' for  them  credited  to 
the  blood  of  his  cross.  On  the  other  hand,  his  righteous- 
ness is  recognized  as  theirs,  and  in  it  they  stand,  not  only 
pardoned,  but  justified ;  approved,  and  entitled  to  the  in- 
heritance of  glory.  They  are  ''  accepted  in  the  Beloved  ;  m 
whom  we  have  redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins  according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace." — Eph.  i, 
6,7. 

6.  Another  result  is  their  reception  to  the  relation  and 
privileges  of  children  of  God.  Born  of  the  Spirit, — born 
of  God,  they  are  thus  by  inheritance  children.     Members 


Sec.  LXXII.]  NOAH  SAVED  BY  WATER.  333 

of  Christ, — the  first-born,  the  eternal  Sou, — they  share  iu 
his  relation,  and  are  in  him  sous ;  and  if  sous  theu  heirs ; — 
heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ. 

7.  The  final  result  is  the  resurrection  unto  glory.  "If 
the  Spirit  of  him  that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwell 
in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  from  the  dead  shall  also 
quicken  your  mortal  bodies,  by  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in 
you." — Rom.  viii,  11. 

Such  is  the  one  baptism,  of  which  "all  ritual  baptisms 
are  mere  shadowy  symbols, — the  baptism  which  Paul  pro- 
claims,— "One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism"  (Eph.  iv, 
5),  a  baptism,  one  and  alone  from  its  very  nature,  as  dis- 
pensed by  the  one  only  Mediator,  in  the  bestowal  of  that 
one  Spirit,  which  belongs  to  and  is  therefore  imparted  by 
him  alone.  Thus  have  we  the  perfect  antitype  of  the  bap- 
tisms of  the  Old  Testament, — the  administrator,  Jesus  the 
great  High  Priest ;  the  element,  that  living  water,  the 
Holy  Spirit;  the  mode,  his  outpouring  upon  us  from  heaven ; 
the  effect,  washing  to  the  corrupt, — life  to  the  dead.  By 
this  means,  does  our  Baptizer  bestow  on  his  people  all 
grace  for  the  present  time,  and  the  resurrection  and  glory 
in  the  end. 

Section  LXXII. — lYoa/i  Saved  by  Water. 

Beside  the  places  before  cited,  one  remains  to  be  noticed. 
It  is  1  Peter  iii,  17-22.  Tliere  are  some  various  readings 
in  the  MSS.,  although  none  that  materially  affect  the  inter- 
l)retation.  Adopting  what  seem  the  best,  the  passage  is  as 
follows : — "  It  is  better,  if  the  will  of  God  be  so,  that  ye  suffer 
for  well  doing,  than  for  evil  doing.  For  Christ,  also,  once 
suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring 
us  to  God,  being  put  to  death  as  to  the  flesh,  but  quick- 
ened as  to  the  Spirit.  By  which  also  he  went  and  preached 
to  the  spirits  in  prison,  formerly  disobedient,  when  the 
longsuffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah,  while  the 
ark  was  i)reparing,  in  which  few,  that  is,  eight,  souls  were 


334  THE  GREAT  BAPTI7.ER.  [Part  XI. 

saved  by  water.  You  also  now  antitype  baptism  saves 
(not  the  patting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  [con- 
formity to]  the  demand  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God) ; 
by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead ;  who  is 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  having  gone  into  heaven,  angels 
and  authorities  and  powers  being  subjected  to  him." 

Both  Peter  and  those  to  whom  his  epistles  were  ad- 
dressed, were  familiar  with  Paul's  writings.  (2  Peter  iii, 
15,  16.)  In  the  passage  here  cited,  the  preacher  of  the 
day  of  Pentecost  speaks  of  that  Spirit  baptism  the  begin- 
ning of  which  he  had  then  witnessed,  in  a  style  w^hich  con- 
stantly reminds  us  of  the  language  and  manner  of  Paul,  on 
the  same  subject.  If  Peter  speaks  of  Christ  as  having  been 
"  quickened  by  the  Spirit,"  or  rather  "  quickened  as  to  the 
spirit."  Paul  tells  us  that  thus  he  became,  "  a  quickening 
spirit." — 1  Cor.  xv,  45.  If  Peter  states  that  *' antitype 
baptism  now  saves  us,"  the  baptism,  that  is,  of  the  Spirit, 
of  which  water  baptism  is  the  type, — Paul  says  that  "  He 
saves  us  by  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  which  he  shed  on  us  abundantly  through 
Jesus  Christ." — Tit.  iii,  5.  Peter  represents  this  baptism 
as  saving  us  "by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
dead;"  and  Paul,  to  the  same  effect,  testifies  that  "even 
when  we  were  dead  in  sins  God  hath  quickened  us  together 
with  him  and  hath  raised  us  up  together"  (Eph.  ii,  1, 
4-6)  ;  and  that  we  are  "  buried  with  him  in  the  baptism, 
wdierein  also  ye  are  risen  with  him,  through  the  faith  of 
the  operation  of  God  who  hath  raised  him  from  the 
dead." — Col.  ii,  12.  To  the  account  which,  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  Peter  gave  of  the  exaltation  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  God's  right  hand,  he  here  adds, — "angels  and  authori- 
ties and  powers  being  subject  to  him," — language  in  which 
we  recognize  the  style  of  Paul's  repeated  descants  on  the 
same  theme.  (Eph.  i,  20,  21 ;  Col.  i,  16 ;  ii,  10.)  As  Peter's 
language  is  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  style  of  thought 
and  expression  of  Paul,  we  need  not  hesitate  to  interpret 


Sec.  LXXIL]  NOAH  SAVED  BY  WATER.  335 

the  passage  by  the  doctruie  of  the   great   apostle  of  the 
Gentiles. 

The  design  of  Peter  is,  to  encourage  the  people  of  God 
in  the  endurance  of  injustice  and  persecution  for  righteous- 
ness sake.    His  first  argument  is  the  example  of  Christ,  who 
suffered  patiently  the  just  for  the  unjust,  "being  put  to 
death  as  to   the  flesh,"  that  is,  "as  to  his  natural  life," 
"  but  quickened   as   to  the   Spirit,"  inasmuch  as  his  death 
Avas  to  him    the   exhausting   of  the  curse  under  which  he 
died,  and  was,  therefore,  the  release  of  the  Spirit  of  life 
which  was  in  him,  from  all  restraint  upon  his  quickening 
energies,  by  which,  therefore,  he  rose  from  the  dead.    Thus, 
the  very  sufferings  of  his  death  were  his  door  of  entrance 
into  life.    Unexpressed,  but  latent  in  the  apostles'  argument 
is  the  fact  which,  on   the  same  subject,  he  states,  in  his 
second  epistle,  that  "the  longsuffering  of  the  Lord  is  sal- 
vation" (2  Peter  iii,  15),  that  having  so  pitied  the  ungodly 
as  to  die  for  them,  praying  for  his  enemies  on  the  very 
cross,  he  now  spares  the  persecutors  of  his  people,  if  pos- 
sibly they  may  repent  (2  Peter  iii,  9),  and  that,  in  the  end, 
"the  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly  out  of  temp- 
tations" (or  persecutions),  "and  to  reserve  the  unjust  unto 
the  day  of  judgment  to  be  punished." — lb.  ii,  9.     This,  he 
illustrates  by  the  case  of  Noah  and  the  old  world.     The 
question  as   to  "the  spirits  in*  prison"  (Vs.  19),  does  not 
belong  to  the  present  inquiry.     Tlie  point  of  interest  is 
the  eight  souls  "saved  by  water." — Vs.  20.     To  under- 
stand this,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  it  distinctly  in  mind  that 
the  point  to  which  the  apostle's  argument  is  directed  is, — 
the   righteous   suffering   persecution,   and   the   persecutors 
spared.     He  assumes  what  can  not  but  have  been  the  fact, 
that  during  the  one   hundred   and    twenty  years  of  the 
building  of  the  ark,  Noah,  "a  preacher  of  righteousness" 
(2  Peter  ii,  5),  was  exposed  to  bitter  persecution.     If  we 
consider  that  "the  earth    was  filled  with  violence"  (Gen. 
vi,  11-13),  that  Noah's  preaching  could  not  but  be  exceed- 


336  THE  GREAT  BAPT17.ER.  [Part  XI. 

ingly  offensive  to  those  whose  wickedness  he  reproved,  and 
that  his  holy  life,  as  "he  walked  with  God,''  and  his  build- 
ing of  the  ark,  by  which  he  "condemned  the  world"  (Heb. 
xi,  7),  combined  to  intensify  the  hostility,  it  must  be  evi- 
dent that  nothing  but  the  almighty  protection  under  which 
he  was  sheltered  could  have  saved  him  and  all  his  from 
speedy  destruction.  It  also  seems  to  be  implied  by  the 
language  here,  and  by  the  connection  in  which  Peter  else- 
where introduces  the  same  matter  (2  Peter  ii,  5-9),  that 
when  the  flood  came,  the  enmity  and  hatred  had  reached 
a  crisis;  so  that  the  call  to  enter  the  ark  was  like  the 
bringing  of  Lot  out  of  Sodom,  a  rescue  from  present  de- 
struction by  the  wicked.  Thus,  the  very  waters  which 
purged  the  world  by  sweeping  away  the  ungodly,  were 
the  salvation  of  the  eight  persons,  who  shut  up  in  the 
ark,  were  upborne  upon  their  bosom.  They  were  "saved 
by  water,"  while,  as  it  rose,  the  world  ready  to  perish 
would,  in  mad  and  impotent  despair,  have  wreaked  a  blind 
vengeance  upon  the  prophet  and  his  family,  for  the  terri- 
ble judgment  of  God;  like  Ahab  with  Elijah,  in  the  days 
of  the  famine.  But  "the  Lord  shut  him  in"  (Gen.  vii, 
16),  and  the  waters  bore  them  up,  safe  amid  their  perish- 
ing enemies. 

Peter  next  points  out  that  analogous  to  this  is  the  sal- 
vation of  Christ's  people, — that  as  the  waters  of  the  deluge 
were  the  destruction  of  the  old  world,  but  life  to  the  new, 
to  Noah,  and  his  house, — so  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  is 
death  to  the  old  man,  but  life  to  the  new,  through  union 
with  the  Lord  Jesus  and  participation  in  his  life.  "You 
also,  now,  antitype  baptism  saves,  by  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead.  Forasmuch  then  as  Christ 
hath  suffered  for  us  in  the  flesh,  arm  yourselves  with  the 
same  mind;  for  he  that  hath  suffered  in  the  flesh"  (that  is, 
as  stated  immediately  after,  he  that  hath  become  "partaker 
of  Christ's  sufferings"),  "hath  ceased  from  sin." — Ch.  iv, 
1,  13.     Here  we  recognize  perfect  identity  of  thought  and 


Sicc.  LXXIL]  NOAH  SAVED  BY  WATER.  337 

argument  with  what  has  already  appeared  iu  Paul's  writ- 
ings. *'So  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ, 
were  baptized  into  his  death.  Therefore,  we  are  buried 
with  him  by  the  baptism  into  his  death,  that  like  as  Christ 
was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father, 
even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life." — Rom. 
vi,  3,  4. 

The  conclusion  of  Peter's  argument  is  found,  a  little 
farther  on, — "Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning 
the  fiery  trial  which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange 
thing  happened  unto  you.  But  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye 
are  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings,  that  when  his  glory 
shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also  with  exceeding 
joy."— 1  Peter  iv,  12,  13.  So  Paul  says,  "If  so  be  that 
we  suflfer  with  him,  that  w^e  may  be  also  glorified  to- 
gether."— Rom.  viii,  17.  It  is  evident  that  the  two  great 
apostles  are  perfectly  united  in  their  testimony  concerning 
this  baptism  and  its  relations  to  the  plan  of  salvation. 

In  the  foregoing  exegesis,  I  have  regarded  both  forms 
of  the  pronoun  iu  the  beginning  of  the  twenty-first  verse, 
as  alike  spurious ;  at  the  same  time  that  the  language  of 
that  verse  is  understood  as  containing  a  reflex  allusion  to 
Noah  and  his  family  "saved  by  water."  The  phrase  "an- 
titype baptism"  does  not,  it  is. true,  necessitate  the  previous 
mention  of  a  type  baptism.  But  it  certainly  does  invite 
us  to  look  for,  and  expect  such  mention,  an  expectation 
confirmed  by  the  presence  of  the  particles,  ^''aho^  now^ 
"You,  a/.so,  now,  antitype  baptism  saves."  Here  seems  to 
to  be  an  allusion  to  something  in  the  past,  corresponding 
to  the  antitype  baptism  of  the  present.  And  when  we 
find  the  immediately  preceding  mention  of  the  salvation 
by  water  of  Noali  and  his  family,  we  can  not  be  mistaken 
in  recognizing  this  as  the  type  to  wiiich,  in  the  phrase 
"antitype  baptism,"  Peter  refers.  The  salvation,  therefore, 
of  Noah  by  the  waters  of  the  deluge  was  a  baptism.  Dr. 
Dale  asserts  the  ark  and  not  the  water,  to  have  been  the 

29 


338  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER,  [Part  X I. 

instrument  of  the  salvation,  and  quotes  examples  to  justify 
the  translation  of  dia  hudatos,  by  ^  ^through  the  water,''  as 
a  medium  and  not  an  instrument.  But  (1.)  it  is,  of  course, 
true  that  this  is  one  meaning  of  dia.  (2.)  One  of  his  ex- 
amples, "faith  tried  by  fire"  (1  Peter  i,  7),  shows  that  it 
may  also  express  instrumental  relations.  (3.)  More  perti- 
nent would  have  been  a  citation  of  the  parallel  clause 
which  immediately  follows  the  phrase  in  question.  As 
Noah  is  stated  to  have  been  saved  "  by  water"  (dia  hudatos), 
in  the  typical  baptism,  so  "antitype  baptism  saves  us  by 
the  resurrection  (dia  anastaseos),  of  Jesus  Christ."  The 
parallel,  here,  between  type  and  antityj)e,  requires  that  in 
both  clauses,  the  preposition  should  be  understood  in  the 
same  sense;  and,  as  in  the  antitype,  dia  certainly  points 
out  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  being  the  instrument  or 
means  of  our  salvation,  so  in  the  type,  must  we  under- 
stand it  to  designate  the  waters  of  the  flood  as  the  means 
of  Noah's  deliverance. 

Section  LXXIII. — Christ's  Baptizing  Administration. 

Thus  Jesus  fills  the  throne  in  the  heavens,  and  possesses 
all  power  and  prerogative  for  accomplishing  the  purposes 
of  the  Godhead,  concerning  the  human  race — the  redeemed 
and  the  lost;  concerning  Satan  and  his  angels,  and  the 
whole  universe  of  God,  moral  and  physical,  as  inseparably 
connected  with  the  moral  history  and  destinies  of  these. 
And  thus,  in  every  aspect  of  his  work,  as  it  progresses, 
from  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  the  final  consummation  and 
glory,  he  is  in  the  exercise  of  that  office  wherein  he  was 
announced  by  his  herald  John,  as  he  that  should  baptize 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire,— that  office  of  the 
gracious  aspects  of  which  as  toward  his  people,  the  baptism 
of  water  has  been,  for  all  ages,  the  symbol  and  seal.  For, 
on  Pentecost,  Jesus  only  began  to  fulfill  the  prophecy  and 
promise, — "  I  will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit  on  all  flesh."  Not 
even  yet  is  the  breadth  of  its  meaning  accomplished.     He 


Sec.  LXXIIL]       CHRIST S  ADMINISTRATION.  339 

will  coutinue  to  breathe  his  Si^irit  into  his  people,  till  all 
are  gathered  iu.  So,  of  them,  individually,  the  purifying, 
although  assured  by  the  first  baptism  which  they  respect- 
ively receive,  is  brought  to  fruition  only  through  the  daily 
breathings  of  Christ's  life  in  them,  the  influences  of  his 
Spirit  quickening  them  continually ;  as  the  leper  was  not 
cleansed  by  one  aflusion,  but  was  sprinkled  seven  times.  And 
while  the  idea  of  baptism  has  special  reference  to  the  first 
act  of  grace  in  bestowing  the  Sjnrit,  it  views  that  act  as 
comprehensive  of  the  whole  process  of  grace,  which  is 
potentially  involved  in,  and  secured  by  it. 

It  is  not  for  us  to  know  the  times  and  seasons  "  which 
the  Father  hath  put  in  his  own  power." — Acts  i,  7.  But, 
respecting  some  things  of  vital  interest  as  to  the  order  and 
issue  of  coming  events,  in  the  history  of  Christ's  baptizing 
office,  we  do  know  by  the  testimony  of  God. 

1.  Whatever,  to  our  limited  and  carnal  apprehensions, 
may  be  the  mysteries  of  the  past  history  of  the  gospel  in 
the  world,  there  has  been  no  lack  of  power  in  the  baptizing 
scepter  of  Christ,  nor  mistake  in  its  exercise.  The  Baptizer 
is  that  Son  of  man  in  whom  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily,  and  who  is  the  personal  Wisdom  of  God, 
and  the  Power  of  God.  His  blood  paid  the  price  of  salva- 
tion. His  arm  overcame  and  his  heel  crushed  Ihe  serpent, 
during  the  days  of  his  humiliation  in  the  flesh.  And  now, 
enthroned  in  power,  he  doeth  in  his  wisdom  according  to 
his  pleasure.  If  the  heatlien  of  old  could  say,  "  The  mills 
of  the  gods  grind  slow,  but  they  grind  exceeding  fine,"  well 
may  we  confide  in  our  King,  that  he  need  not  make  haste, 
in  the  fulfillment  of  his  purposes.  "  Beloved,  be  not 
ignorant  of  this  one  thing,  that  one  day  is  with  the  Lord 
as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day." — 
2  Pet.  iii,  8.  Four  thousand  years  rolled  by,  before  the 
])romise  made  to  the  fallen  woman  in  the  garden  was  ful- 
filled, in  the  virgin  birth  of  the  babe  of  Bethlehem.  And 
now,  "the  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time;  but  at  the 


340  THE  GREAT  DAPTl'AER.  [Part  XI. 

end  it  sliall  speak  and  not  lie ;  though  the  promise  tarry 
wait  for  it ;  because  it  will  surely  come  ;  it  will  not  tarry." — 
Hab.  ii,  3. 

It  does  not  fall  in  with  the  purposes  of  the  present  dis- 
cussion to  enter  into  the  prophetic  question,  as  to  the  time 
and  manner  of  the  future  developments  and  glory  of  the 
Kedeemer's  kingdom.  Respecting  it,  one  thing  is  certain. 
The  past  has  been  a  time  of  the  hiding  of  his  power;  but 
the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord  will 
yet  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  Tlie 
Branch  of  Jesse  "  shall  stand  for  an  enSign  of  the  people; 
to  it  shall  the  Gentiles  seek;  and  his  rest  shall  be  glori- 
ous."— Isa.  xi,  .1,  10. 

2.  Every  soul  to  whom  the  grace  of  God  has  come, 
from  the  day  of  Pentecost  to  this  hour,  has  received  it  from 
the  immediate  hand  of  Jesus,  baptizing  him  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.  And  so  it  will  be  to  the  end.  Thus,  each  one  so 
redeemed  is  a  new  proof  and  pledge  that  Jesus  fills  the 
throne, — that  Satan  and  all  the  powers  of  darkness  are 
under  his  feet;  and  that  the  hearts  of  men  are  in  his 
hands,  to  give  eternal  life  to  as  many  as  the  Father  hath 
given  him. 

3.  AVhen  the  end  shall  come,  and  the  mystery  of  God 
shall  be  finished,  it  will  appear  that  in  every  aspect  of  the 
issues  joined  with  Satan,  triumph  and  glory  crown  the  head 
of  the  Son  of  man.  Nor  will  it  be  the  mere  force  of  phys- 
ical omnipotence  crushing  the  feebler  powers  of  Satan. 
But  the  glory  of  perfect  righteousness,  of  wisdom  and  un- 
derstanding, of  counsel  and  might,  of  knowledge  and  fear 
of  the  Lord,  in  the  Head  and  leader  of  the  salvation, — a 
perfection,  not  merely  of  moral  excellence  but  of  all  gifts 
and  endowments,  tried  and  proved,  first,  in  the  form  of  a 
servant  under  the  law,  in  obedience  and  suflferings,  amid 
the  temptations  of  the  w^orld  and  the  flesh,  the  wiles  of  the 
devil,  and  the  inflictions  of  God, — a  perfection  then  shown 
upon  the   throne  of  glory,  in  administering  with  perfect 


Sec.  LXXIII.]       CHRIST'S  A DML\7STRATI0N.  341 

wisdom  and  perfect  skill  the  vast  and  various  affairs  of 
God's  boundless  empire,  thwarting  and  turning  to  confusion 
the  plots  and  policies  of  Satan  and  his  angels,  rectifying 
the  disorders  wrought  by  the  enemy,  and  vindicating  God's 
glory  impeached  th-rough  man. 

It  will  be  a  moral  triumph  revealed  in  each  one  of  the 
redeemed,  once  a  prostrate  slave  of  Satan  and  sin,  baptized 
and  quickened,  and  aroused  to  struggle  for  liberty,  and 
made  more  than  conqueror,  in  the  conflict,  through  the 
grace  and  Spirit  of  Christ,  over  Satan  and  all  his  powers 
without,  and  indwelling  sin  and  corruption, — each  one 
scarred  with  the  wounds  of  battle,  but  all — the  crushed 
serpent  writhing  beneath  their  feet, — wearing  the  white 
robes  of  triumph  and  waving  the  palms  of  victory ; — all 
clothed  in  the  righteousness  of  One,  and  each  grown  to  the 
stature  of  Christ,  in  the  perfection  of  holiness  and  beauty, 
after  the  image  of  God. 

It  will  be  the  moral  triumph  of  the  whole  ransomed 
host,  by  one  Spirit  baptized  into  one  body,  her  garments 
of  wrought  gold  and  needle- work,  received  and  revealed, 
spotless  and  complete  in  all  divine  perfections, — the  bride 
of  the  Lamb,  the  glory  of  her  husband,  as  he  is  the  image 
and  glory  of  God.  (1  Cor.  xi,  7.)  In  them  shall  the 
principalities  and  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  behold  and 
study  and  admire  the  reflected  likeness  of  the  unapproach- 
able glory  of  the  infinite  Invisible. 

It  will  be  the  triumph  involved  in  all  this  revelation  of 
glory  and  blessedness  in  contrast  with  the  spectacle  of 
Satan  and  his  followers  and  work,  exposed  before  all  intel- 
ligences, in  shame  and  everlasting  contempt ; — his  achieve- 
ments seen  in  discord  and  darkness,  in  sin  and  suffering 
and  sorrow,  in  lamentation  and  woe,  in  the  loss  to  him  and 
to  his  of  all  the  divine  perfections  in  which  they  were  cre- 
ated, and  in  distortion,  deformity  and  discord,  possessing  and 
pervading  them  all ;  his  confident  wisdom  and  power  turned 
to  imbecile  folly,  and  his  conspiracies  and  wiles  made  the 


342  THE  GREAT    BAPT17.ER.  [Part  XL 

occasions  and  means  of  fulfilling  God's  plan  which  he  op- 
posed, and  crowning  the  Son  of  man  with  glory. 

The  true  dignity  and  significance  of  the  rite  of  baptism 
can  only  then  be  adequately  realized  Avhen  we  appreciate 
this  comprehensive  extent  and  grandeur  of  the  baptizing 
office  of  Christ,  signified  by  it.  In  the  fulfillment  of  that 
office  he  now  orders  all  things ;  and  its  exercise  must  be 
continuous  to  the  end.  The  Great  Baptizer  must  breathe 
the  Spirit  of  life  into  all  that  mighty  multitude,  out  of 
every  generation  and  race,  whom  the  Father  has  given 
Him.  He  must  send  fire  upon  the  earth,  and  divide  be- 
tween his  people  and  his  enemies,  and  vindicate  the  Fa- 
ther's sovereignty  and  grace  in  all  his  dealings  with  the 
wicked.  He  must,  at  last,  by  the  quickening  virtue  of  the 
baptism  of  His  Spirit,  raise  up  his  saints, — their  bodies 
glorious  as  his  own  glorious  body,  and  their  souls  perfect 
in  holiness, — and  place  them  on  the  throne  of  judgment 
with  himself;  judge  and  cast  the  wicked  out  of  his  kingdom ; 
confirm  the  holy  angels  in  rectitude  and  blessedness,  and 
cast  Satan, — thwarted,  defeated  and  bound  in  chains  of 
darkness, — into  the  gulf  of  fire, — him  and  his  angels  and 
followers.  He  must  purge  the  earth  and  heavens  with 
fire,  from  the  defilement  which  Satan  and  sin  have  wrought, 
and  out  of  them  create  and  adorn  the  new  heavens  and  the 
new  earth,  the  abode  of  righteousness,  the  home  of  the 
holy  and  the  blessed, — where  the  many  sons  shall  dwell 
with  God  and  the  Lamb.     He  must  make  all  things  new. 

Then  may  the  triumphant  Son  of  man  proclaim  his 
work  accomplished,  and  his  office  ended.  Then  may  he, — 
not  now  from  the  cross,  but  from  the  throne, — cry,  "It  is 
finished !"  "The  former  things  are  passed  away,  and  behold 
I  have  made  all  things  new."  Sin  and  the  curse  are  abol- 
ished;— tears,  and  death,  and  sorrow,  and  crying,  and  pain 
are  no  more ;  and  in  life  and  immortality  the  earth-born 
sons  of  God  possess  the  glory. 

"It  is  done!"     The  floor  is  purged;  the  garner  filled; 


Sec.  LXXIV.]  ARGUMENT  FROM  THIS.  343 

and  the  chaff  burned.  The  baptism  is  accomplished.  Then 
shall  the  Son,  his  commission  ftdfilled,  deliver  up  the  king- 
dom to  God  even  the  Father,  and  shall  himself  also  be 
subject  to  Him  that  put  all  things  under  him,  that  God 
may  be  all  in  all.     (1  Cor.  xv,  24,  28.) 

Section  LXXIV. — Argument  from  tJie  Real  to  Ritual 
Baptism. 

Thus  is  Jesus  revealed  in  characters  of  unspeakable 
grandeur,  as  the  true  and  only  Baptizer, — his  the  real  bap- 
tism, of  which  all  others  are  mere  shadows.  His  baptizing 
office  is  the  very  end  of  his  exaltation,  the  peculiar  and  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  of  his  throne  and  scepter.  As 
the  cross  of  Christ  is  the  symbol  of  the  whole  doctrine  of 
his  humiliation,  sorrow  and  death,  so  his  baptizing  scepter 
represents  the  whole  doctrine  of  his  exaltation  his  kingdom 
and  glory.  And,  as  the  sacrament  of  the  supper  shows 
forth  his  abasement  and  atonement  for  sin ;  so,  that  of  bap- 
tism proclaims  the  glory  and  power  of  his  exaltation,  and  the 
riches  of  salvation  and  grace  which  he  sheds  on  his  people 
from  on  high.  The  ritual  ordinance  therefore  if  true  to 
its  office,  must  be  true  to  the  similitude  of  the  real  bap- 
tism,— must  represent  and  proclaim  those  very  things  which 
are  realized  in  the  office  and  work  of  the  great  Baptizer. 
But  what  has  the  real  baptism  to  do  with  the  humiliation 
of  Christ,  in  any  of  its  aspects?  And,  especially,  what  has 
it  to  do  with  the  burial  of  his  dead  body  ?  With  the  throne 
of  his  power,  the  prerogatives  of  his  scepter,  the  grace, 
the  grandeur  and  the  glory  of  his  achievements  to  the  end, 
its  relations  are  intimate  and  from  them  inseparable.  But 
with  humiliation  and  shame,  with  death  and  the  grave,  it 
holds  no  relations  but  those  of  boundless  distance  and  in- 
finite contrast. 

Here  then,  at  the  culminating  point  in  the  history  of 
baptism  and  the  plan  of  God's  grace,  as  identified  with  it, 
the  divergence  of  the  immersion  theory  from  the  statements, 


344  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Pakt  XI. 

conceptions  and  principles  of  the  Scriptures  on  the  subject 
interposes  between  them  a  widening  and  deepening  gulf, 
broad,  profound  and  impassable.  Whilst  the  Scriptural 
rite  points  exultiugly  upward  to  Christ's  high  throne,  and 
calls  us  to  lift  up  our  heads  and  admire  and  adore  the 
height  of  his  majesty  and  the  grace  and  grandeur  of  his 
baptizing  work, — the  immersion  theory  constrains  its  vota- 
ries, with  bowed  heads  and  stooping  forms,  to  grope  among 
the  graves,  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  trace  some  fanciful  re- 
semblance between  the  rite  which  they  espouse  and  the 
form  and  manner  of  the  burial  of  the  dead, — a  burial, 
too,  which,  as  thus  imagined,  the  crucified  One  never 
received ! 

The  doctrine  of  the  real  baptism  is  thus  utterly  incon- 
gruous to  that  of  immersion.  Equally  irreconcilable  with 
that  form  are  all  the  phenomena  and  expressions  used  in 
connection  with  the  administering  of  Christ's  baptism. 
The  sound  from  heaven  as  of  an  outbreathed  mighty 
breath  poured  down,  and  filling  all  the  place,  was  the  only 
phenomenon  of  Pentecost  indicative  of  form  or  mode. 
And  its  mode  was  affusion,  or  outpouring,  and  descent  from 
above.  The  language  in  wdiich  the  transaction  is  every- 
where described  and  referred  to  is  equally  specific  and  in- 
variable. It  was  a  shedding  down — a  pouring  down — a 
falling  upon — a  filling  of  the  disciples ; — a  style  of  expres- 
sion used,  not  on  the  occasion,  only,  but  in  every  subse- 
quent allusion  to  the  subject.  So,  the  propehcy  cited  by 
Peter  is  an  express  definition  of  this  as  the  mode.  "I 
will  pour  out  of  my  Spirit."  But,  more  than  this,  it  iden- 
tifies the  outpouring  of  Pentecost  with  all  those  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecies,  in  which  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  is  spoken 
of  in  terms  of  pouring  and  sprinkling.  All  these,  again, 
as  we  have  formerly  seen,  are  intimately  associated  with 
the  baptisms  of  the  Levitical  system.  Those  baptisms 
represented  in  ritual  form  the  things  which  the  prophets 
set  forth   in  analogous  figures.     If  Christian  baptism  de- 


Sec.  LXXIV.]  ARGUMENT  FROM  THIS.  345 

parts  from  the  Old  Testament  mode,  it  to  the  same  degree 
departs  from  tlie  form  in  which  the  grace  of  Pentecost  is 
uniformly  predicted,  represented,  described,  and  referred  to. 
The  attempt  is  made  to  evade  the  force  of  these  facts 
by  the  assertion  that  the  "sound  from  heaven  as  of  a 
rushing  mighty  wind,"  "filled  all  the  place  where  they 
were  sitting;"  and  that  the  discij)les  were  immersed  in  it. 
But  (1.)  the  immersion  thus  imagined  is,  an  inversion  of 
the  Baptist  theory.  The  result  of  an  admitted  affusion, 
it  is  an  application  of  the  element  to  the  person,  and  by 
a  sustained  analogy,  on  Baptist  principles,  would  require 
that  the  grave  should  have  been  brought  and  put  about 
the  body  of  Jesus,  and  that,  in  water  baptism,  the  element 
should  be  poured  over  the  subject,  until  he  is  covered, 
although  drowning  would  be  the  inevitable  result.  (2.) 
There  is,  in  fact,  no  analogy,  except  in  the  jingle  of  words, 
between  an  immersion  in  water,  which  is  immediately  and 
inevitably  fatal  to  life,  and  an  immersion  in  the  vital  air, 
which  is  the  very  breath  of  life,  the  withdrawal  of  which 
is  fatal.  (3.)  If  Christian  baptism  sustains  any  real  rela- 
tion at  all  to  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  Christ 
administers — as  it  assuredly  does — it  is  that  of  type  to  an- 
titype— of  a  similitude  to  the  reality.  Both  the  form  and 
the  meaning  of  the  rite  must  be  derived  from  the  nature 
of  the  reality,  of  which  it  is  the  symbol.  If  then  the 
immersion  of  the  disciples  in  the  wind  or  breath  of  Pente- 
cost is  the  antitype  symbolized  in  the  outward  form  of 
baptism,  the  ordinance  means,  not  the  burial  of  Christ's 
dead  body,  but  the  imparting  of  his  Spirit  of  life  to  his 
people.  Thus  the  Baptist  theory  of  the  form  and  meaning 
of  the  ordinance  is  exploded,  since  the  two  ideas  can  not 
stand  together.  They  are  niutually  destructive  and  the 
incongruity  is  fatal  to  the  whole  scheme,  which  can  not 
stand  W'ithout  an  immersion  on  Pentecost;  and  can  not 
endure  the  crucial  test  of  the  only  immersion  which  they 
can  pretend  to  discover  there. 


346  THE  GREAT  BAPTIZER.  [Part  XL 

The  alternative  is  inexorable.  If  that  which  Christ 
dispenses  is  the  normal,  the  antitype,  baptism,  then  by  it 
the  ritual  baptisms  of  both  economies  are  to  be  interpreted ; 
and  their  signification  is  to  be  found,  not  in  the  sepulchre, 
but  on  the  throne — in  the  Spirit  thence  poured  out,  and 
the  life  and  salvation  thence  dispensed ; — and  the  form  of 
the  ordinance  must  needs  correspond  to  its  meaning.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  immersion  in  water  is  the  normal  bap- 
tism, and  the  burial  of  the  body  of  Jesus,  its  meaning, 
then  the  baptism  of  Pentecost  with  all  its  phenomena  and 
doctrine  is  to  be  struck  from  the  record,  as  no  baptism  at 
all.      Ij  that  which  Christ  dispenses  is  baptism,  immersion 

is  7lOt. 


Sec.  LXXV.J      BAPTHO  AND  RESURRECTION.  347 


Part  XII. 

THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT. 

Section  LXXV. — Baptizo  and  the  Resurrection. 

THE  argument  in  proof  that  the  discij^les  of  John  and 
of  Christ  were  immersed  comprehends  four  essential 
propositions.  (1)  That  baptizo  means,  to  dip,  to  phmge, 
to  immerse,  to  submerge, — one  or  other  of  these,  and  noth- 
ing else;  (2)  That  the  prepositions,  eis,  en,  ek,  and  apn,  as 
used  in  the  New  Testament,  in  connection  Avith  baptizo, 
require  and  enforce  that  meaning;  (3)  That  the  resort  of 
John  to  the  Jordan,  and  to  Enon,  "because  there  was 
much  water  there,"  is  conclusive  to  the  same  effect;  (4) 
That  Paul,  in  saying  that  w^e  are  "buried  with  Christ  in 
baptism,"  refers  to  the  form  of  immersion;  (5)  It  is,  more- 
over, held  that  the  account  of  the  baptism  of  the  Ethio- 
pian eunuch  shows  it  to  have  been  by  immersion.  The 
last  point  will  be  considered  further  on. 

As  to  baptizo,  enough  has  already  appeared  to  render  it 
certain  that  the  definition  heretofore  insisted  on  by  Bap- 
tists is  untenable,  and  that  the  word,  in  itself,  determines 
nothing  as  to  form.  It  was  formerly  maintained  as  un- 
questionable, that  bapto  and  baptizo  are  strictly  equivalent ; 
and  that  the  meaning  is,  "  to  dip,  and  nothing  but  dip." 
This  assumption  may  now  be  considered  obsolete.  It  is 
definitely  aband(med  by  the  ablest  representatives  of  im- 
mersion. Dr.  Conant  having  been  appointed  thereto  by 
the  American  (Baptist)  Bil:)le  Union  entered  into  an  elab- 
orate investigation  of  "The  Meaning  and  Use  of  Baptizo!^ 
In  a  treatise  published  under  that  title,  he  thus  states  the  re- 
sult.   **  The  word,  immerse,  as  well  as  its  synonyms,  immerge, 


348  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [rAux  XIl'. 

etc.,  expresses  the  full  import  of  the  Greek  word,  baptlzein. 
The  idea  of  emersion  is  not  included  in  it.  It  means  simply 
to  put  into  or  under  water;  without  determining  whether 
the  object  immersed  sinks  to  the  bottom,  or  floats  in  the 
liquid,  or  is  immediately  taken  out.  This  is  determined, 
not  by  the  word,  itself,  but  by  the  design  of  the  act,  in 
each  particular  case.  A  living  being,  put  under  water  with- 
out intending  to  drown  him,  is  of  course  to  be  immediately 
withdrawn  from  it ;  and  this  is  to  be  understood,  whenever 
the  word  is  used  with  reference  to  such  a  case.  But  the 
Greek  word  is  also  used  where  a  living  being  is  put  under 
the  water  for  the  purpose  of  drowning,  and  of  course  is 
left  to  perish  in  the  immersing  element." -^^  It  is  of  the  pri- 
mary meaning  of  the  word  that  Dr.  Couant  here  speaks. 
As  we  have  already  seen,  he  also  recognizes  a  secondary  mean- 
ing, the  importance  of  which  he  entirely  ignores.  As  to  the 
former,  the  admission  here  transcribed  is  conclusive,  although 
obscured  by  ambiguous  and  impertinent  explanations.  Ko 
verb  can  "determine"  any  thing  subsequent  to  the  comple- 
tion of  its  own  proper  action.  The  healed  paralytic,  '^de- 
parted to  his  own  house."  "  Paul  arose  and  was  baptized." 
"John  came  baptizing."  He  that  should  explain  that  "  de- 
parted" does  not  of  necessity  imply  that  he  never  returned, 
that  Paul  may  have  sat  down  again ;  and  that  for  all  the 
meaning  of  "  came"  John  may  afterward  have  gone  away, 
would  be  held  guilty  of  puerile  trifling.  Of  course,  haptizo 
determines  nothing  but  its  own  action.  The  explanation 
of  Dr.  C.  that  the  w^ord  does  not  determine  whether  the 
object  sinks  to  the  bottom  or  is  immediately  taken  out,  is 
not  trifling,  because  open  to  a  more  serious  charge.  It  is 
a  diligent,  although  undoubtedly  unconscious  obscuring  of 
of  the  subject,  induced  by  the  instinctive  recoil  of  the 
author's  own  mind  from  the  picture  drawn  by  his  definition. 
He  is  therefore  impelled  to  retire  it  into  the  background 
and  veil  its  nakedness  in  the  drapery  of  explanations,  by 
*  The  Meaning  and  Use  of  Baptizein,  p.  88. 


Src.  LXXV.]     BAPTI7.0  AXD  RliSURRECTION.  349 

wliich  he  is  as  much  coufounded  as  are  his  readers, — 
explanations  wholly  impertinent  to  the  question  in  hand, 
which  is  the  meaning  of  baptizo.  That  word,  in  its  primary 
classic  sense,  as  here  defined,  expresses  a  definite  and  com- 
pleted act.  When  by  one  continuous  process  a  person  or 
thing  is  put  into  the  water  and  withdrawn,  it  is  not  a  baptiz- 
ing, in  the  classic  meaning,  but  a  hapting,  a  dipping.  It  is 
true  the  word  does  not  determine  "  whether  the  object  im- 
mersed sinks  to  the  bottom  or  floats  in  the  liquid,  or  is  imme- 
diately taken  out,"  provided  that  by  "  immediately,"  is  not 
to  be  understood,  instantaneously, — provided  that  by  the 
baptism,  the  object  is  deposited  in  the  Avater  and  left  there. 
The  emersion,  if  it  take  place  at  all,  must  be  a  distinct  and 
subsequent  act,  and  can  not  be  performed  as  a  part  of  the 
baptizing.  This,  Dr.  Kendrick,  professor  of  Greek  in  the 
Rochester  University,  and  a  member  of  the  American 
Committee  of  Revision  on  the  New  Testament,  in  his  review 
of  Dr.  Dale,  most  emphatically  concedes,  with  italics  and 
emphasis  none  the  less  significant  because  of  the  intense 
irritation  which  breathes  in  his  article.  "  Granting  that 
bapto,  always  engages  to  take  its  subject  from  the  water 
(which  we  do  not  believe),  and  that  baptizo  never  does 
(which  we  readily  admit),  we  have  Mr.  Dale's  reluctant 
concession  that  it  interposes  no  obstacle  to  his  coming  out." 
Baptizo  "lays  its  subject  under  the  water;  it  does  not 
hold  him  there  a  single  moment.  Its  whole  function  is 
fulfilled  with  the  act  of  submersion.  It  offers  no  shadow 
of  an  obstacle  to  his  instant  emergence  from  his  watery 
entombment.  We  have  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  kindly 
purpose  of  baptizo,  and  of  Him  who  has  made  its  liquid 
grave  the  external  portal  to  his  kingdom.  Neither  it  nor  He 
intends  to  drown  us.  We  let  baptizo  take  us  into  the  water, 
and  can  trust  to  men's  instinctive  love  of  life,  their  com- 
mon sense,  their  power  of  volition  and  normal  muscular 
action,  to  bring  them  safely  out."  "The  law  of  God  in 
revelation  sends  the  Baptist  down  into  the  waters  of  im- 


850  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  XII. 

mersion ;  when  it  is  accomplished,  the  equally  imperative 
law  of  God  in  nature  brings  him  safely  out."  "As  between 
the  two  \bwgiizo  and  6apto],  baptizo  is  the  appropriate  word, 
partly  from  its  greater  length,  weight  and  dignity  of  form, 
and  still  more  from  its  distinctive  import.  It  is  not  a  dip- 
ping that  our  Lord  instituted,  but  an  immersion.  He  did  not 
command  to  ind  people  into  the  water  and  take  them  out  again ; 
but  to  put  them  under  the  ivater,  to  submerge  them,  to  bury 
them,  symbolically,  in  the  grave  of  their  buried  Eedeemer ; 
like  him  indeed,  not  to  remain  there,  but  with  him  to 
arise  to  newness  of  life.  This  arising,  though  essential  to 
the  completeness  of  the  transaction,  could  not  be  included 
in  the  designation  of  the  rite,  any  more  than  the  rising  of 
the  Eedeemer  could  be  included  in  the  w'ords  denoting  his 
crucifixion  and  burial."  "  We  repeat  with  emphasis,  for 
the  consideration  of  our  Baptist  brethren ;  Christian  bap- 
tism is  no  mere  literal  and  senseless  '  dipping,'  assuring  the 
frightened  candidate  of  a  safe  exit  from  the  water ;  it  is  a 
symbolical  immersion,  in  which  the  believer  goes,  in  a 
sublime  and  solemn  trust,  into  a  figurative  burial,  dying  to 
sin  for  a  life  with  Christ ;  and  just  as  far  as  Mr.  Dale's 
distinction  holds  good  (which  even  thus  far  he  has  not 
established),  baptizo,  and  not  bapto  is  the  only  suitable 
designation  of  the  baptismal  ordinance.  The  early  Israel- 
ites were  baptized  to  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea. 
They  emerged  indeed,  and  were  intended  to  emerge  at  last. 
But  it  was  in  their  wondrous  march,  through  that  long  and 
fearful  night,  with  the  double  wall  of  water  rolled  up  on 
each  side,  and  the  column  of  fiery  cloud  stretching  its 
enshrouding  folds  above  them, — it  was  in  this,  and  not  in 
the  closing  emersion  that  they  were  baptized  into  their 
allegiance  to  their  great  Lawgiver  and  Leader."* 

Of  the  baptism  of  Israel,  we  shall  take  notice  hereafter. 
In  these  passages,  it  is  evident  that  the  distinguished  pro- 

*  Review  of  Dale's  Classic  Baptism,  in  the  Baptist  Quarterly, 
J  869,  pp.  142,  143. 


Sec.  LXXV.]      DAPTIZO  AND  RESURRECTION.  351 

fessor  is  as  much  disturbed  at  the  apparitioo  of  his  own 
raising  as  is  Dr.  Couaut.  At  first  he  seems  determined  to 
face  it  squarely,  and  calls  upon  his  Baptist  brethren  to 
look  and  see  that  it  is  nothing  dangerous.  But  suddenly, 
he  crosses  himself,  and  starts  back  in  a  hurried  talk  of  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  and  the  risiug  of  his  people  to  new- 
ness of  life;  all  of  which  is  very  true  and  precious,  but, 
has  no  more  to  do  with  the  question  in  hand,  himself  be- 
ing witness,  than  has  the  doctrine  of  original  sin.  The 
question  is,  the  meaning  of  baptizo,  and  the  professor  ad- 
mits that  it  has  no  part  in  the  resurrection.  The  very 
perplexing  position  in  which  he  found  himself,  is  some 
apology  for  the  confusion  of  ideas  and  the  incongruities 
which  appear  in  his  statements.  He  is  discussing  the  rel- 
ative merits  of  the  two  words  bapto  and  baptizo.  The  for- 
mer, in  its  primary  and  ordinary  meaning,  he  can  but 
acknowledge,  engages  both  to  put  its  subject  into  the  water 
and  take  him  out  again;  Avhile  baptizo  only  puts  him  in. 
The  latter,  says  the  professor,  was  chosen  because  of  this 
its  distinctive  import,  because  the  command  was,  not  "to 
put  the  people  into  the  water  and  take  them  out  again ; 
but  to  put  them  under  the  water, — to  submerge  them." 
But  before  he  is  done,  we  are  told  that  the  coming  out, 
"though  essential  to  the  completeness  of  the  transaction 
could  not  be  included  in  the  designation  of  the  rite." 
Does  "the  transaction,"  here  mean  the  life  saving  opera- 
tion which  he  confides  to  the  "instinctive  love  of  life,  com- 
mon sense,"  etc?  Or,  are  we  correct  in  supposing  it  to 
mean  that  baptismal  rite  which  he  is  discussing?  And  if 
the  latter  be  the  design,  how  is  the  statement  to  be  recon- 
ciled with  the  reason  just  before  given  for  the  employment 
of  baptizo,  because  it  does  not  take  the  subject  out  of  the 
water,  while  bapto  does?  Waiving  this  diflficulty,  the  ques- 
tion occurs, — Why  the  rising  "could  not  be  included  in 
the  designation  of  the  rite,"  seeing  bapto  was  ready  to  add 
that  very  idea  to  the  meaning  of  baptizo^     The  question 


352  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  XII. 

is  anticipated  by  the  professor,  and  the  answer  given.  It 
is  because- the  latter  word  has  "greater  length,  weight,  and 
dignity  of  form!"  The  meaning  of  the  words  was  a  sec- 
ondary consideration!  Bapto  has  but  two  syllables,  while 
baptizo  has  three.  It  has  the  advantage,  therefore,  in  a 
greater  length,  and  a  buzzing  zeta,  to  add  to  its  "weight 
and  dignity  of  form!"  Or,  perhaps,  the  superior  "weight" 
of  the  one  word  over  the  other  consists  in  the  fact  that 
while  hapto  accurately  expresses  the  hasty  resurrection 
which  the  instinct  of  life  and  other  influences  specified  so 
happily,  though  not  invariably,  connect  with  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  rite,  baptizo  maintains  a  dignified  silence  on 
that  part  of  the  subject.  But  the  professor  drifts  back 
again  to  his  first  position.  He  insists  that  the  baptism  of 
Israel  into  Moses  Avas  received  in  their  "  wondrous  march" 
enclosed  between  the  Avails  of  water,  and  enshrouded  in 
the  cloud,  "and  7iot  in  the  closing  emersion."  And  yet, 
even  here,  his  protest  that  bapto  itself  would  not  have 
given  absolute  assurance  of  exit,  looks  like  a  disposition  to 
weaken  the  force  of  "the  distinctive  import"  of  baptizo. 

However  these  "dark  sayings  of  the  wise"  are  to  be 
interpreted,  the  facts  remain,  that,  confessedly,  the  Avord 
chosen  by  the  Savior  to  designate  the  rite  of  baptism  does 
not  include  in  it  the  idea  of  emersion,  typical  of  resurrec- 
tion,— that  it  Avas  chosen  in  preference  to  a  kindred  Avord 
which  does  distinctly  express  that  idea, — and  that  the  best 
reasons  suggested  by  Baptist  scholarship  for  this  remark- 
able fact  are,  that  burial  and  not  resurrection  AA^as  the  doc- 
trine symbolized;  and  that  baptizo  sounds  best!  Such  are 
the  results  of  the  elaborate  researches  of  the  scholarly 
Conant,  confirmed  by  the  eminent  learning  of  Kendrick, 
divines  than  Avhom  the  Baptist  churches  haA'^e  had  none 
more  zealou's  or  more  competent.  Essentially  the  same  is 
the  definition  reached  through  the  exhaustiA^e  studies  of 
our  OAvn  departed  Dale. 

Thus,  according  to  the  Baptist  rendering  of  the  gospel 


Src.  lxxv.]     bapt/zo  and  resurrection.  353 

commission,  we  are  to  go  into  all  the  world  and  submerge 
every  creature, — a  command  which  neither  contains  nor 
implies  authority  in  any  one  to  neutralize  it  by  a  systematic 
rescue  of  its  subjects  from  the  "liquid  grave."  A  result 
of  the  most  serious  import  to  our  Baptist  brethren  follows 
from  these  facts.  The  definition,  to  dip,  for  the  sake  of 
which  they  have  so  long  separated  themselves,  in  translat- 
ing the  Scriptures  into  the  languages  of  the  heathen,  is 
demonstrably  and  confessedly  false,  and  the  result  is  a  cor- 
rupting of  the  word  of  God. 

The  force  of  these  facts  against  the  very  foundations  of 
the  immersion  fabric  is  utterly  destructive.  But  the  mat- 
ter does  not  rest  even  here.  Dr.  Conant  recognizes  in  haptizo 
a  second  meaning.  The  word  does  not  even  limit  itself  to 
"  submerge  and  nothing  but  submerge."  It  also  "  expressed 
the  coming  into  a  new  state  of  hfe  or  experience,  in  which 
one  was,  as  it  were  enclosed  or  swallowed  up,  so  that  tem- 
porarily or  permanently  he  belonged  wholly  to  it."*  Thus, 
the  man  who  is  brought  under  the  control  of  a  passion  of 
anger,  fear,  or  love,  or  who  is  overcome  with  wine  or  sleep, 
was  by  the  Greeks  said  to  be  baptized  with  these  things. 
So,  in  the  Scriptures,  he  who  is  under  such  control  that  he 
is  "led  of  the  Spirit,"  is  said  to  be  "baptized  wdth  the 
Spirit."  This  meaning  of  haptizo  no  candid  scholar  can 
deny  ;  and  in  it  we  have  already  seen  abundant  relief  from 
all  the  perplexities  of  the  immersion  theory.  Respecting 
it,  however,  a  caution  is  necessary.  A  mere  momentary 
impulse  or  influence  by  which  one  is  seized,  but,  instantly, 
released,  is  not  a  baptism,  in  the  classic  sense.  The  word 
expressed  a  control  which  not  only  seizes  but  holds  its  ob- 
ject. It  brings  him  "into  a  new  state  of  life  or  experi- 
ence." This  use  of  the  word  flows  from  the  primary  mean- 
ing, to  submerge,  as  expressive  not  of  comprehensive  control, 
only,  but  of  continuance.  Nothing  analogous  to  a  momen- 
tary dipping  was  known  to  the  Greeks  as  a  baptism. 

*  "  Meaning  and  Use  of  Buptizein,"  p.  158. 
SO 


354  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Pakt  XII. 

Section  LXXVI. — The  Prepositions. 

In  tlie  common  English  version  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  translations  which  occur  in  connection  with  baptism  are 
such  as  to  show  an  evident  bias  on  the  part  of  the  trans- 
lators in  favor  of  immersion.  In  fact  they  were,  all  of 
them,  immersionists,  if  not  by  personal  conviction,  then,  by 
constraint  of  law.  They  were  members,  and  with  a  few 
exceptions  clergymen  of  the  church  of  England,  by  law 
established.  That  church  had  orginally  incorporated  among 
its  ordinances,  baptism  by  trine  immersion.  By  the  par- 
liamentary revision  during  the  reign  of  Edward  VI,  the 
book  of  prayer  was  so  altered  as  to  require  but  one  immer- 
sion. The  rubric  for  baptism  was  and  is  to  this  day  in 
these  words : — "  Then  the  priest  shall  take  the  child  in  his 
hands,  and  ask  the  name ;  and  naming  the  child,  shall  dip 
it  in  the  water,  so  it  be  discreetly  and  warily  done,  saying, 
'  N. ,  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Amen.'  And,  if  the  child 
be  weak,  it  shall  suffice  to  pour  water  upon  it,  saying  the 
aforesaid  words."* 

As  to  the  bearing  of  the  prepositions  on  the  present  ar- 
gument, a  brief  illustration  may  make  it  clear  to  the  En- 
glish reader.  In  the  following  citations,  the  words  in 
italics  answer  to  the  Greek  prepositions  under  which  re- 
spectively they  are  cited. 

1.  En.  "And  were  all  baptized  of  him  (e?i)  in  Jor- 
dan."— Matt,  iii,  6.  "John  did  baptize  in  the  wilder- 
ness."— Mark  i,  4.  "  John  was  baptizing  in  Enon."— John 
iii,  23.  "These  things  were  done  in  Bethabara,  beyond 
Jordan,  where  John  was  baptizing." — John  i,  28.  "  The 
tower  in  Siloam." — Luke  xiii,  4.  "Elias  is  come,  and  they 
have  done  unto  him  whatsoever  they  listed." — Matt,  xvii, 

jij "  The  Two  Books  of  Common  Prayer,"  set  forth  by  author- 
ity of  Parliament,  in  the  reign  of  King  Edward  YI,  edited  by  Ed- 
ward Cardwell,  D.  D,,  Principal  of  St.  Alban's  Hall,  Oxford,  1852. 


Skc.  lxxvi.]  the  prepositions.  355 

12.  **  Turn  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the  just." — 
Luke  i,  17.  "  Lest  they  trample  them  \d€i  their  feet." — • 
Matt,  vii,  6.  "  Sanctify  them  iJirowjli  thy  truth,  thy  word 
is  truth." — John  xvii,  17.  "They  that  take  the  sword 
shall  perish  xc'xtli  the  sword." — Matt,  xxvi,  52.  *'  There  is 
none  other  name  .  .  .  hy  which  we  must  he  saved." — Acts 
iv,  12.  "  He  will  judge  the  world  ,  .  .  by  that  man  whom 
he  hath  ordained." — lb.  xvii,  31.  *'  Now  revealed  by  the 
Spirit." — ^Eph.  iii,  5.  "That  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow." — Phil,  ii,  10.  From  these  illustrations 
two  deductions  are  manifest.  (1.)  Eii  does  not  always  mean 
in.  It  may  mean  icith  or  by,  instrumentally.  "  WitJi  the 
sword."  "The  name  by  which,"  etc.  It  may  mean  by  a 
mediate  agent.  "  Revealed  by  the  Spirit."  "  He  will  judge 
the  world  by  that  man."  It  may  mean  at,  by,  or  in,  locally. 
"  In  Euon."  "  At  Siloam."  It  may  be  used  in  a  yet  more 
general  signification,  as,  "At  the  name."  Other  meanings 
might  be  stated,  but  these  are  sufficient.  (2.)  If,  by  reason 
of  the  phrase  "  in  Jordan,"  we  must  understand  that  John 
immersed  his  disciples  into  the  Jordan,  it  of  necessity  fol- 
lows that  he  also  immersed  them  "  into  Enon,"  and  "  into 
the  wilderness."  In  short,  the  expression  indicates  that 
the  Jordan  was  the  place  at  which  the  baptizing  was  done  : — 
this,  and  this  only.  Why  it  was  done  there,  we  shall  pres- 
ently see. 

2.  Ei.i.  "Jesus  came  from  Xazareth  of  Galilee  and 
was  baptized  of  John  (eis)  in  Jordan." — Mark  i,  9.  "They 
went  down  both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch 
and  he  baptized  him." — Acts  viii,  38.  These  passages  mu- 
tually illustrate  each  other  and  show  that  the  goiug  into  the 
water  was  not  the  baptizing.  "  He  came  and  dwelt  in  a 
city  called  Nazareth." — Mat.  ii,  23.  "He  cometh  to  a 
city  of  Samaria,"  but  he  remained  outside,  at  the  well, 
while  the  aj^ostles  went  "  into  the  city,"  whence  the  Samar- 
itans "  went  out  of  tlie  city  and  came  to  him." — John  iv, 
5,  8,  28,  30.     "He  luved  them  to  tlie  eu.l."— lb.  xiii,  1. 


356  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Pakt  XII. 

''1  speak  to  the  world."  lb.  viii,  26.  "If  thy  brother 
trespass  agahist  thee." — Matt,  xviii,  15.  "  Therefore''  (Liter- 
ally, to  this)  "came  I  forth."— Mark  i,  38.  "What  are 
they  among  so  many." — Joliu  vi,  9.  "The  Son  which  is 
in  (on)  the  bosom  of  the  Father." — John  i,  18.  "  He  went 
up  into  (to,  or,  on,)  a  mountain." — Matt,  v,  1.  "Depart unto 
the  other  side."— lb.  viii,  18.  "Fell  down  at  his  feet."— 
lb.  xviii,  29.  Eis  is  even  used  in  express  contrast  with  en- 
trance into.  "  The  other  disciple  did  outrun  Peter,  and  first 
(elthen  eis)  came  to  the  sepulchre,  ....  yet  went  he  not  in. 
Then  cometh  Simon  Peter  following  him  and  (eis-elthen  eis) 
entered  into  the  sepulchre." — John  xx,  4-6.  This  illustrates 
a  usage  concerning  eis.  When  entrance  into  is  to  be  ex- 
pressed by  the  mere  force  of  the  word,  it  must  be  doubled. 
See  Matt,  vi,  6 ;  x,  5,  12 ;  Luke  ix,  34,  etc.  The  same 
remark  applies  to  eh,  in  the  sense  of  out  of.  But  neither 
of  these  words  is  ever  used  in  duplicated  form,  with  refer- 
ence to  baptism.  It  is  evident  that  the  word  of  itself  de- 
termines no  more  as  to  the  mode  of  the  baptism  of  Jesus 
than  does  en.  The  ordinary  office  of  eis  is  to  point  to  the 
terminus  of  a  preceding  verb  of  motion.  When  it  is  said 
that  Jesus  came  and  dwelt  (eis)  in  a  city  called  Kazareth, 
€71  would  have  been  the  proper  preposition  to  express  the 
in-dwelliug ;  but  eis  is  preferred  because  the  city  was  the 
terminus  of  the  coming  "He  came  (eis)  to  a  city."  So 
Mark  above  uses  the  same  word,  not  because  of  its  appro- 
priateness to  the  baptizing,  which  is  always  elsewhere  ex- 
pressed by  ew,  but  because  the  Jordan  was  the  terminus 
(eis)  to  which  he  came  from  Galilee. 

3.  Ek.  "And  when  they  Avere  come  up  (ek)  md  of  the 
water." — Acts  viii,  39.  In  his  gospel,  Luke  the  author  of 
this  account  thus  uses  the  preposition.  "  Saved  from  our 
enemies." — Luke  i,  71.  "  Every  tree  is  known  by  its  own 
fruit,  for  of  thorns  men  do  not  gather  figs;  nor  o/* a  bramble- 
bush  gather  they  grapes." — lb.  vi,  44.  "He  cometh /ro?7i 
the  wedding." — lb.  xii,  36.     "All  these  have  I  kept /ro?M 


Sec.  LXXVL]  THE  PREPOSITIONS.  357 

my  youth  up." — lb.  xviii,  21.  So  far  as  this  word  deter- 
mines, Philip  and  the  eunuch  may  have  come  up  jrom  the 
■water,  without  having  been  in  it,  at  all. 

4.  ^po.  "Jesus  when  he  was  baptized,  went  up  straight- 
way (apo)  out  of  the  water." — Matt,  iii,  16.  Apo  never 
means,  "out  of,"  as  here  translated;  but,  "from,"  "away 
from."  "When  Jesus  was  come  down /rom  the  mount- 
ain."— Matt,  viii,  1.  ''From  whom  do  kings  take  tribute?"^— 
lb.  xvii,  25.  "  Cast  them  from  thee." — lb.  xviii,  8. 
"  Beginning /)'o??i  the  last  unto  the  first." — lb.  xx,  8. 

From  these  illustrations,  which  might  be  multiplied  in- 
definitely, it  is  evident  that  the  prepositions  will  not  bear 
the  stress  put  upon  them  by  the  Baptist  argument.  Not 
anly  are  they,  in  themselves,  insufficient  to  constitute  a 
reliable  basis  for  the  conclusions  sought;  but  the  statements 
to  which  they  belong  have  respect,  not  to  the  mode  of  the 
baptism,  but  to  the  places  of  it.  They  are  defined  by  the 
phrases,  "  i?i  Jordan," — "m  Enon," — "m  Bethabara." 
Recent  Baptist  writers  have  had  the  courage  to  follow  their 
principles  to  the  result  of  translating  John's  words, — "I 
immerse  you  in  Avater,  but  he  shall  immerse  you  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  in  fire," — a  rendering  from  which  the 
better  taste,  if  not  the  better  scholarship,  of  the  trans- 
lators of  King  James's  version  revolted.  The  thorough 
consideration  already  given  in  these  pages  to  the  baptism 
of  the  Spirit  justifies  an  imperative  denial  of  the  correct- 
ness of  this  translation.  If  any  thing  in  the  Bible  is  clear, 
it  is  that  the  baptism  administered  by  the  Lord  Jesus  is 
not  an  immersion, but  an  outpouring. 

On  the  question  of  the  prepositions  in  this  connection, 
light  is  shed  by  an  expression  of  the  apostle  Paul.  "By 
one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  .  .  .  and 
have  been  all  made  to  drink  one  Spirit." — 1  Cor.  xii,  13. 
Of  this  passage  we  have  already  indicated  that  "into,"  as 
found  in  the  last  clause,  in  the  common  version  ("to 
drink  into  one  Spirit"),  is  spurious,  and  that  j)otizo  ("  made 


358  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMRXT.  [Part  XII. 

to  drink"),  properly  signifies,  to  a^j)hj  water  or  otlier  fluid, 
whether  externally  or  internally,  to  water,  to  cause  to 
drink.  In  this  passage,  we  have  both  the  prepositions,  en 
and  m,  each  dependent  on  the  one  verb,  baptizo,  but  each 
having  its  own  distinctive  subject.  *' Baptized  (en),  in 
one  Spirit  (eis),  into  one  body."  Into  which  of  these 
media  does  the  immersion  take  place?  Shall  we  follow 
the  Baptist  interpretation  of  the  words  of  John,  "He  shall 
immerse  you  in  the  Holy  Ghost?"  But  in  the  first  place, 
we  have  seen  that  this  is  false  to  the  real  manner  of  the 
baptism  in  question;  which  consists  in  a  shedding  down 
of  the  Spirit.  In  the  second,  how  then,  in  harmony  with 
Baptist  principles,  are  we  to  understand  the  other  clause 
of  the  passage, — "  Immersed  in  one  Spirit,  into  one  body?" 
Are  there  here  two  immersions  by  one  act?  the  one  subject 
put  at  one  and  the  same  time  into  two  different  media? 
Moreover,  the  language  with  which  the  apostle  closes  the 
passage,  while  it  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  true  mode 
of  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  is  altogether  incongruous  to 
the  Baptist  interpretation.  If  we  are  baptized  with  or  by 
the  Spirit,  shed  upon  us,  we  may  consistently  be  said  to 
drink  (or,  to  be  watered  with)  the  Spirit.  For,  the  earth 
and  its  vegetation  drink  the  rain  that  falls  upon  them. 
But  if  we  must  be  immersed  in  the  Spirit,  Paul's  language 
implies  that  in  order  that  men  be  caii^e^d  to  drink  they  are 
to  be  immersed  in  the  water.  "Immersed  in  one  Spirit, 
and  all  made  to  drink  one  Spirit." 

But  the  phrase,  en  heni  Pneumati,  does  not  mean  "in 
one  Spirit."  As  we  have  seen,  the  preposition  may  and 
often  does  mean  "icith,''  or  "by"  the  Spirit,  as  the  agent 
or  instrument.  Especially  by  Paul,  the  writer  of  the  pas- 
sage in  question,  is  the  phrase  so  used, — "Through  Him 
we  both  have  access  (en  lieni  Pneumati),  by  one  Spirit  unto 
the  Father." — Eph.  ii,  18.  Here  is  the  very  phrase  in 
question.  Through  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Mediator,  by  his 
Spirit  as  the  instrument,  who,  being  sent  by  him  helpeth 


skc.  lxxvl]  the  prepositions.  359 

our  iufirmities,  in  prayer  (Rom.  viii,  26),  we  have  access 
to  the  Father's  presence.  Again, — "On  whom,"  as  the 
chief  corner  stone,  "we  are  builded  together,  for  an  habi- 
tation of  God  (en  Piieumati),  by  the  Spirit,"  who  is  the 
efficient  builder  of  the  spiritual  temple.  Again, the  apos- 
tle tells  of  the  mystery  which  is  "now  revealed  unto  His 
holy  apostles  and  prophets  (en  Pneiunati),  by  the  Spirit" 
(Eph.  iii,  5),  and  exhorts  us,  "Be  not  drunk  with  wine, 
wherein  is  excess,  but  be  filled  (en)  ivith  the  Spirit"  (lb. 
V,  18),  and  to  "pray  with  all  prayer  and  supplication  (en) 
by  the  Spirit." — lb.  vi,  18.  So  in  the  text, — ''With,  or, 
by  one  Spirit,"  the  instrument  and  agent  of  grace  shed  on 
us  abundantly  by  Jesus  Christ  "are  we  all  baptized" — 
brought  into  a  new  state  of  incorporation  "  into  one  body," 
which  he  pervades  and  controls  as  the  Spirit  of  life.  Into 
it  we  are  not  immersed ;  but,  united  by  his  common  in- 
dwelling power,  are  made  daily  "to  drink  of  that  one 
Spirit,"  which  is  in  us,  "a  well  of  water  springing  up  into 
everlasting  life." — John  iv,  14. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  the  present  purpose  to  dwell 
further  on  the  signification  and  bearing  of  the  prepositions. 
The  moment  bapiizo  ceases  to  mean,  to  dip,  and  nothing 
else,  the  prepositions  lose  all  determining  force  upon  the 
questions  at  issue.  If  John's  disciples  were  dipped  or  sub- 
merged in  Jordan  all  is  plain,  and  discussion  is  at  an  end. 
But  if  John  baptized  in  Jordan,  the  question  still  remains, — 
How  did  he  baptize?  This  is  very  clearly  illustrated  by 
the  case  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  if  we  accept  the  immer- 
sion rendering  of  the  prepositions.  "They  went  down 
both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch."  They 
have  now  reached  the  place,  in  the  water,  if  j^ou  will. 
But  the  baptism  is  yet  to  be  performed. — ''And  he  bap- 
tized him."  But  how  did  he  do  it?  Tlie  baptism  is  uow 
ended;  but  both  are  still  in  position  "in  the  w;iter;"  out 
of  which  they  arc  then  stated  to  have  come.  (Acts  viii, 
38,  39.)     '- 


360  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  Xll- 

Section  LXXVII.— "T/iere  wau^  much  Water  tJiere." 

Appeal  is  made  to  the  fact  that  John  baptized  "in 
Enon,  near  to  Salim,  because  there  ^vas  much  water 
there." — John  iii,  23.  Enon  (Aenon),  is  the  plural  form, 
a  word  which  means  a  spring  or  fountain.  In  a  few  places 
it  is  translated,  a  well  of  water.  But  it  signifies  a  flowing 
spring.  The  name,  therefore,  means.  The  Springs  near  to 
Salim.  All  attempts  to  trace  a  town  or  city  of  that  name 
have  failed ;  and  the  whole  manner  of  John's  ministry  and 
statements  of  the  evangelists  indicate  him  to  have  selected 
a  retired  spot,  rather  than  a  town  or  city,  as  the  place  of 
his  preaching  and  baptism. 

The  phrase,  "  much  water,"  is  not  a  correct  translation 
of  the  original  (i^olla  hudata),  which  means,  many  waters, — 
that  is,  many  springs,  or  streams.  The  phrase  occurs  nine 
times  in  the  Greek  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  four  times 
in  the  New,  beside  the  place  in  question.  It  is  never  used 
in  the  sense  of  unity, — *'  much  water," — but  invariably  ex- 
presses the  conception  of  plurality.  In  several  places,  it 
designates  the  waves  of  the  sea  in  a  tumult.  Thus,  Psa. 
xciii,  3,  4, — "The  floods  have  lifted  up,  0  Lord,  the  floods 
have  lifted  up  their  voice  ;  the  floods  hft  up  their  waves. 
The  Lord  on  high  is  mightier  than  the  noise  of  many  waters; 
yea,  than  the  mighty  waves  of  the  sea."  See,  also,  2  Sam. 
xxii,  17 ;  Psa.  xviii,  16 ;  xxix,  3 ;  Isa.  xvii,  12,  13 ;  Ezek. 
xliii,  2 ;  Rev.  i,  15 ;  xiv,  2  ;  xix,  6.  In  these  places  the 
noise  of  many  waters,  is  the  sound  of  the  waves,  as  they 
toss  in  the  fury  of  a  storm,  or  thunder  upon  the  shore. 
Again,  it  is  used  to  designate  many  streams,  and  even  the 
rivulets  which  for  the  purposes  of  irrigation  were  carried 
through  vineyards  and  gardens.  Thus,  "Thy  mother  was 
as  a  vine,  and  as  a  shoot  planted  by  a  stream,  by  waters; 
the  fruit  of  which,  and  its  sprouts  were  from  many  waters." — 
Ezek.  xix,  10.  See,  also,  Num.  xxiv,  7,  and  Jer.  li,  13. 
In  the  last  of  these  passages,  Babylon  is  described  as  dwell- 


Skc.  lxxvil]         much  water  there.  361 

ing  "  upon  many  waters,"  meaning,  not  the  Euphrates, 
only ;  but  the  four  rivers,  Euphrates,  Tigris,  Chaboras  and 
Ulai,  and  the  many  canals  of  irrigation,  vestiges  of  which 
continue  to  this  day,  to  whicli  Babylonia  was  indebted  for 
its  fertility,  and  the  city  for  its  wealth  and  power.  Com- 
pare Psalm  cxxxvii,  1,  "By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there 
we  sat  down,  yea  we  wept,  when  we  remembered  Zion." 
In  the  text  of  John,  the  phrase  coincides  with  the  name 
of  Enon,  to  indicate  that  the  peculiarity  of  the  place  was 
a  number  of  flowing  springs.  The  bearing  of  these  upon 
the  question  as  to  the  mode  of  John's  Baptism  is  inappre- 
ciable ;  as,  for  the  purposes  of  immersion,  he  did  not  need 
more  than  one. 

But,  we  recur  to  the  challenge,  so  confidently  urged. 
If  John  did  not  immerse,  why  his  resort  to  the  Jordan,  and 
to  the  '*  much  water"  of  Enon  ?  We  reply  by  another  ques- 
tion. Why  did  the  Lord  Jesus  concentrate  his  ministry  upon 
the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee?  Why  did  he,  after  the 
close  of  his  labors  in  that  part  of  the  laud,  take  up  his 
abode  at  that  very  "  place  where  John  at  first  baptized  ?" — 
John  X,  40.  A  comparison  of  the  evangelists  shows  that, 
as  did  John  (Luke  iii,  3),  so  Jesus  began  his  ministry  by 
journeying  through  the  country  and  villages  preaching  the 
gospel.  But,  as  his  fame  spread  abroad  and  the  concourse 
of  his  hearers  increased,  he  was  accustomed  to  resort  to  the 
shores  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  slopes  of  the  mountains 
which  enclose  it  on  the  west.  A  comparison  of  the  evan- 
gelists shows  the  sermon  on  the  mount  to  have  been  uttered 
from  one  of  those  mountains.  (Matt,  v,  1 ;  Mark  iii,  7-13.) 
In  the  brief  narrative  of  Mark,  that  sea  is  six  times  spoken 
of  as  the  scene  of  his  labors ;  and  these  are  evidently  mere 
illustrations  of  the  habit  of  his  ministry.  Thus,  the  first 
such  mention  states  that  **  he  went  forth  a(jain  by  the  sea 
side,  and  all  the  multitude  resorted  unto  him  and  he  taught 
them."— Mark  ii,  13,  and  see  iii,  7  ;  iv,  1 ;  v,  21 ;  vi,  31-33  ; 
vii,  31 ;  viii,  10.     Here,  he  fed  the  five  thousand  men, 

31 


362  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  XII. 

beside  women  and  children,  with  five  barley  loaves  and 
two  small  fishes;  and  here,  the  fi3ur  thousand,  with  seven 
barley  loaves  and  a  few  small  fishes.  Afterward,  when  his 
ministry  in  Galilee  was  finished  and  he  would  preach  in 
Judea,  he  found  himself  beset,  before  his  time,  by  the 
machinations  of  the  scribes  and  rulers.  He  therefore  with- 
drew beyond  Jordan,  to  "  the  place  where  John  at  first 
baptized,  and  there  he  abode,  and  many  resorted  to  him,  .  .  . 
and  many  believed  on  him  there." — John  x,  39-42,  and 
Mark  x,  1.  It  is  evident  that  the  facts  here  referred  to  were 
not  casual  nor  fortuitous.  They  constitute  one  of  the  most 
prominent  features  of  the  story  of  our  Lord's  ministry.  It 
is  also  manifest  that  these  and  the  facts  concerning  the 
places  of  John's  ministry  belong  to  the  same  category ;  so 
that  no  explanation  can  be  sufficient  which  does  not  account 
for  all  alike. 

The  Baptist  theory  is  not  thus  adequate.  They  will  not 
pretend  that  it  was  to  immerse  his  disciples,  that  Jesus  re- 
sorted to  the  lake  and  to  Bethabara.  We  may,  therefore, 
conclude  that  the  explanation  of  John's  places  of  baptism 
is  to  be  sought  upon  some  other  principle.  A  candid  con- 
sideration of  the  circumstances  will  discover  it ;  and  cus- 
toms peculiar  to  this  country  may  confirm  the.  solution. 
The  assemblies  that  attended  on  the  ministry  of  John  and 
of  Jesus  were  essentially  similar  to  our  camp-meetings,  with 
the  only  difierence,  that  the  simpler  habits  of  the  people  of 
Judea  and  Galilee  rendered  any  preparation  of  tents  or 
booths  unnecessary.  On  one  occasion  w^e  casually  learn 
that  the  people  remained  together  three  days  (Mark  viii, 
2)  ;  and  the  circumstances  indicate  that  generally  they  were 
"protracted  meetings."  For  example,  at  one  time,  Mark 
states  that  "Jesus  withdrew  himself  with  his  disciples  to 
the  sea;  and  a  great  multitude  from  Galilee,  followed  him, 
and  from  Judea,  and  from  Jerusalem,  and  from  Idumea,  and 
from  beyond  Jordan,  and  they  about  Tyre  and  Sidon,  a  great 
multitude,  Avhen  they  had  heard  what  great  things  he  did, 


Sec.  LXXVIL]  MUCH  WATER  THERE.  363 

came  unto  him." — Mark  iii,  7,  8.  Luke  in  one  place  speaks 
of  '*  an  innumerable  multitude  of  people  {ion  muriadon  tou 
ochlou,  the  tens  of  thousands  of  the  throng)  insomuch  that 
they  trode  one  upon  another." — Luke  xii,  1.  See,  also,  the 
descriptions  of  John's  audiences.  In  choosing  the  place  for 
a  camp-meeting,  three  things  are  recognized  as  of  the  first 
necessity.  These  are,  retirement,  accessibility,  and  abun- 
dance of  water.  Why  these  are  essential,  needs  no  explan- 
ation. As  to  the  last,  food  may  be  brought,  from  a  dis- 
tance ;  but  if  abundance  of  water,  for  the  supply  of  man 
and  beast,  is  not  found  on  the  spot,  its  use  for  such  a  pur- 
pose is  manifestly  and  utterly  impracticable. 

The  argument  applies  with  double  force  to  the  thirsty 
climate  of  Judea.  As  heretofore  stated,  there  are  very  few 
running  streams  in  the  land.  The  requisite  supplies  for  the 
people  in  the  towns  and  villages  in  which  the  population 
was  concentrated  were  obtained  from  wells.  There  is  scarcely 
a  single  perennial  stream  flowing  from  the  west  into  the 
Jordan,  in  its  whole  course  from  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  the 
Dead  Sea.  Its  aflluents  are  "  mere  winter  torrents,  rush- 
ing and  foaming  during  the  continuance  of  rain,  and  quickly 
drying  up  after  the  commencement  of  summer.  For  fully 
half  the  year,  these  '  rivers,'  or  '  brooks,'  are  often  dry 
lanes  of  hot  white  or  gray  stones ;  or,  tiny  rills,  workino- 
their  way  through  heaps  of  parched  boulders."-!^  In  a  word, 
the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  the  shores  of  the  sea  of  Tiberias, 
and  some  such  exceptional  spots  as  The  Springs  near  Salim, 
presented  the  only  sites  in  Palestine  in  which  the  three 
requisites  above  indicated  were  to  be  found  united.  Sup- 
pose the  multitudes  that  were  gathered  to  our  Savior's  mm- 
istry, — four  and  five  thousand  men,  beside  women,  children 
and  cattle;  and  those  of  John's  preaching  were,  without 
doubt,  as  numerous, — to  have  been  assembled  with  an  im- 
provident  forgetfulness  of  the   prime   necessity  of  water! 

*Mr.  George  Grove,  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  article, 
"  Palestine." 


364  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  XII. 

The  alternative  would  have  been  a  vast  amount  of  sufter- 
ing  and  the  dispersion  of  the  assembly,  or  miraculous  inter- 
position. But  this  does  not  meet  the  case  of  John's  con- 
gregations ;  for  ' '  John  did  no  miracle. " 

It  is  plain  that  Ave  need  no  immersion  theory,  to  account 
for  the  places  chosen  by  John  and  Jesus  for  fulfilling  their 
ministry.  The  necessities  of  their  numerous  audiences  were 
decisive,  and  were  in  harmony  with  the  requirement  of  the 
law  that  the  sprinkled  water  of  purifying  should  be  living 
or  running  water. 

Section  LXXVIII. — '*  Buried  with  him  by  Baptism  into 

Death." 

The  principal  remaining  Baptist  argument  is  derived 
from  two  expressions  of  the  apostle  Paul  which  are  sup- 
posed to  show  by  implication  that  baptism  was  adminis- 
tered by  immersion.  These  are; — Rom.  vi,  4, — "Buried 
with  him  by  baptism  into  death ;"  and  Col.  ii,  12, — "Buried 
with  him  in  baptism."  In  our  common  English  version  as 
here  quoted,  there  is  a  repeated  neglect  of  the  definite  arti- 
cle, Avhere  it  occurs  in  the  original,  which  obscures  the 
meaning.  This  defect  being  rectified,  the  first  passage  reads 
thus: — Rom.  vi,  1-11.  "What  shall  we  say  then?  Shall 
we  continue  in  sin  that  grace  may  abound?  God  forbid. 
How  shall  we  that  are  dead  by  sin  live  any  longer  therein  ? 
Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus 
Christ  were  baptized  into  his  death?  Therefore,  we  are 
buried  with  him  by  the  baptism  into  the  death;  that  like 
as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the 
Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life. 
For,  if  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the  likeness  of 
his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his  resurrec- 
tion :  knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  (sunestaurothe')  was 
crucified  with  him,  that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed, 
that  henceforth  we  should  not  serve  sin.  For  (ho  apo- 
thanon)  lie  that  died  is  freed  (dedikoiatai,  is  justified)  from 


Sec.  LXXVIIL]  BURIED  BY  BAPTISM.  365 

sin.  Now,  if  we  died  with  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  will 
also  live  with  him.  .  .  .  For  in  that  he  died  {il  hamaiiia) 
by  sin  he  died  once :  but  in  that  he  liveth  he  liveth  {to 
thed)  by  God"  (that  is,  "  by  the  power  of  God."— 2  Cor. 
xiii,  4.)  Likewise  reckon  ye  also  yourselves  to  be  dead 
indeed  by  sin,  but  alive  by  the  power  of  God,  through  Je- 
sus Christ  our  Lord." 

In  the  present  state  of  our  argument,  it  might  seem 
almost  needless  to  discuss  this  passage.  But  this  and  the 
parallel  text  sustain  relations  to  the  subject,  which  clothe 
them  with  an  importance  in  the  discussion,  such  as  attaches 
to  no  other  Scriptures  whatever.  In  them  is  contained 
and  exhausted  the  entire  evidence  in  behalf  of  the  assump- 
tion tliat  the  form  of  baptism  represents  the  burial  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  Confessedly,  that  supposition,  if  not  estab- 
hshed  by  these  two  phrases  of  Paul,  is  without  warrant 
anywhere  m  the  Bible.  But  to  prove  the  interpretation  of 
the  rite,  they  must  of  necessity,  first,  establish  its  very  ex- 
istence, which  as  yet  is  more  than  problematical.  That 
they  are  not  likely  to  prove  adequate 'to  the  task  thus  laid 
upo»  them,  will  be  apparent  to  the  reader  upon  a  moment's 
consideration.  It  is  evident,  and  admitted  by  all,  that  the 
immediate  subject  of  discussion  in  them  is  the  baptism  of 
the  Spirit,  and  not  ritual  baptism,  in  any  form.  If  the 
latter  is  referred  to,  at  all,  it  is  by  mere  allusion.  That, 
this  is  true,  as  to  the  text  to  the  Komans,  is  indicated  alike 
by  the  form  of  expression,  "  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ," 
and  by  tlie  i)henomena  and  results  which  are  attributed  to 
that  baptism.  It  will  hereafter  appear  that  the  two 
phrases,  "baptized  into  Jesus  Christ,"  and  "baptized  into 
the  name  of  Christ,"  are  those  by  which,  in  the  Scriptures, 
the  real  baptism,  and  the  ritual,  are  discriminated  from 
each  other.  The  one  unites  to  the  very  body  of  Christ, 
the  true,  invisible  church.  The  other  unites  to  the  7iame 
of  Christ,  and  to  that  visible  body  which  is  named  with 
his  name.     That  it  is  of  spiritual  phenomena,  and  not  of 


366  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  XII. 

ritual  forms,  that  Paul  speaks,  is  moreover  evident,  from 
the  purpose  and  teuor  of  his  argument.  His  object  is  to 
repel  the  suggestion  that  free  grace  gives  liberty  to  sin. 
His  fundamental  point  in  reply  to  this  is,  that  God's  peo- 
ple "  are  dead  h\j  sin,"  in  such  a  sense  that  it  is  impossible 
they  should  "live  any  longer  therein."  To  prove  this,  is 
the  whole  intent  of  his  argument.  First,  in  designating 
the  subjects  of  his  statements,  he  uses  phraseology  which 
emphasizes  the  difference  between  a  mere  outward  relation 
to  Christ  and  the  church,  and  that  which  is  established  by 
the  baptism  of  the  spirit.  "  Know  ye  not  that  ^o  many  of 
us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ."  It  is  those  who  are 
truly  one  with  Christ  by  a  real  spiritual  union,  and  only 
those,  whom  he  describes,  and  of  whom  he  predicates  what 
follows. 

"Baptized  into  Jesus  Christ."  This  is  the  one  only 
baptism  of  the  passage,  the  effects  and  consequences  of 
which  the  apostle  proceeds  to  set  forth.  Or,  are  we  here 
to  recognize  three  baptisms, — into  Jesus  Christ, — into  his 
death, — and  into  his*  burial?  The  first  effect  of  the  bap- 
tism into  Christ  Paul  indicates  by  the  phrase,  "  ba^ized 
into  his  death."  In  the  baptism  into  Christ,  "  by  one 
Spirit  are  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,"  the  body  of 
Christ,  "and  are  all  made  to  drink  one  Spirit."  But  it 
was  by  that  Spirit  that  he  offered  himself  without  spot  to 
God,  and  "  died  by  sin,"  it  being  the  meritorious  cause  of 
his  death ;  and  that  Spirit  being  in  us  by  virtue  of  the 
baptism,  will  cause  the  same  hatred  of  sin,  and  induce  in 
us  a  sense  of  its  demerit  and  condemnation,  so  that  we  can 
no  longer  live  in  it.  Such  is  the  meaning  of  the  apostle's 
expression,  "baptized  into  his  death," — so  united  by  the 
baptism  into  Christ,  that  as  he  died  for  sin  to  destroy  it  in 
us,  so  we  will  be  dead  to  it  in  the  same  hatred  and  zeal 
for  its  destruction,  inspired  by  the  same  Spirit.  To  inten- 
sify this  conception,  the  apostle  pursues  the  figure  yet 
farther. — "Therefore,  we  are  buried  with  him." — How? 


Sec.  LXXVIII.]          BURIED  BY  BAPTISM.  367 

By  immersion  in  water?  or,  By  any  thing  of  which  such 
immersion  is  a  symbol?  No.  But  {dia)  through,  or,  by 
means  of  the  baptism  just  spoken  of;  ''the  baptism  into 
the  death  "  of  Christ.  That  the  expression  can  not  possibly 
me£^n  any  ritual  form  of  baptism  is  certain  every  way. 
The  illative,  "  Therefore,"  forbids  it.  It  shows  the  burial 
to  be,  not  a  physical  phenomenon,  real  or  ritual,  but  a  con- 
sequence which,  by  virtue  of  the  relation  of  cause  and 
eifect,  logically  results  from  something  which  either  pre- 
cedes or  follows.  But  the  boundaries  in  both  directions  are 
the  same. — ^'  Bajjtized  into  his  death.  Therefore  buried  with 
him,  by  the  baptism  into  the  death."  The  baptism  into 
Christ,  by  which  we  are.  baptized  into  his  death,  is  thus 
the  instrumental  cause  of  the  burial ;  a  fact  w^hich  utterly 
excludes  any  form  of  ritual  baptism  from  the  purview 
of  the  passage.  But  what  is  here  meant  by  being  buried 
with  him?  In  order  to  an  answer,  it  will  be  necessarv 
to  ascertain  precisely  who  it  is  that  dies  and  is  buried 
with  Christ.  The  answer  comes  promptly.  "  We  are 
buried."  True ;  but  the  words  are  to  be  taken  in  the 
light  of  the  apostle's  own  interpretation.  It  is  not  we,  in 
the  entirety  of  our  persons,  but  our  old  man,  of  which 
this  is  said.  "  Knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  is  crucified 
with  him,  that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that 
henceforth  we  should  not  serve  sin." — Vs.  6.  It  is,  to  sig- 
nify the  utterness  of  this  death  and  destruction  of  the  old 
man, — its  obliteration  out  of  our  lives,  so  that  we  can  not 
"live  any  longer  therein,"  nor  "serve  sin,"  that  the  apos- 
tle represents  it  as  buried,  and  hidden  away  in  a  resurrec- 
tionless  grave.  The  old  man  buried,  so  that  the.  new  man 
may  unimpeded  "  walk  in  newness  of  life."  In  this  doc- 
trine and  these  words  of  the  apostle,  we  have  the  very 
baptism  which  Dr.  Conant  admits  to  be  expressed,  "by 
analogy,"  by  the  word  baptizo; — "  the  coming  into  a  new  state 
of  life  or  experience."  Into  the  conception  of  the  passage, 
when  critically  appreciated,  it  is  impossible  to  introduce 


868  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Pakt  XII. 

the  idea  of  immersion,  in  any  congruous  or  intelligible  re- 
lation. 

The  apostle  illustrates  his  subject  with  another  figure, 
which  has  been  sometimes  pressed  into  the  service  of  im- 
mersion. "  For  if  we  have  been  planted  together  in  the 
likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  in  the  likeness  of  his 
resurrection."  It  has  been  assumed  that  the  planting  of 
a  tree  is  here  associated  with  immersion  in  water  ("buried 
by  baptism"),  as  representing  the  burial  of  the  dead.  Thus, 
"the  likeness  of  his  cZeai/i,"  which  was  by  crucifixion,  is 
confounded  with  the  form  of  hurial  of  the  dead.  This  is 
recognized  by  Dr.  Carson,  whose  exposition  of  the  figure 
is  essentially  correct.  Of  siimphiitoi  ("planted  together") 
he  says, — "It  might,  I  think,  be  applied  to  express  the 
growing  together  of  the  graft  and  the  tree ;  but  this  would 
be  the  effect  or  consequence  of  grafting,  and  not  the  opera- 
tion itself.  It  denotes,  in  short,  the  closest  union,  with 
respect  to  things  indiscriminately.  There  is  no  need,  then, 
to  bring  either  planting  or  grafting  into  the  passage;  and 
as  neither  of  them  resembles  a  resurrection,  they  should 
be  rejected.  When  we  translate  the  passage, — 'For,  if  we 
have  become  one  with  him,'  or,  'have  been  joined  with 
him,  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,' — we  not  only  suit  the 
connexion,  to  both  death  and  resurrection,  but  we  take 
the  word  sumphutoi,  in  its  most  common  acceptation."* 
This  witness  is  true.  The  phrase  has  no  reference  to  the 
form  of  ritual  baptism,  but  to  the  intimacy  of  the  union 
which  that  of  the  Spirit  establishes.  The  two  expres- 
sions,— "Baptized  into  his  death,"  and  "Coplanted  with 
him  in  the  likeness  of  his  death,"  are  coincident,  meaning 
essentially  the  same  thing.  It  is,  however,  a  fundamental 
defect  in  Carson's  conception,  that  while  he  earnestly  insists 
on  the  closeness  of  the  union,  by  which  Christ  and  his  peo- 
ple are  one,  he  fails  to  recognize  the  essential  fact  that  it 
is  effected  by  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit.     In  his  coucej^tion 

*  Carson  on  Baptism,  p.  251. 


Sbc.  LXXVIII.]  BURIED  BY  BAPTISM.  369 

and  vocabulary,  it  is  a  ^^comtituted  union."  A  ray  of 
light  entering  his  mind  on  this  point  would  have  trans- 
figured his  whole  system. 

But  what  means  our  being  joined  with  Christ  in  the 
likeness  of  his  death?  Here  and  elsewhere,  Paul  explains 
abundantly.  "  He  died  by  sin,"  our  sin,  as  being  the  mer- 
itorious cause  of  his  death.  "He  was  crucified  through 
weakness," — the  Aveakness  of  his  humiliation,  under  the 
law^  and  the  curse.  (2  Cor.  xiii,  4.)  He  died  by  the 
cross,  the  agonies  of  which  he  voluntarily  assumed.  And 
he  lives  again,  by  the  power  of  God  who  raised  him  from 
the  dead.  So  we  also,  if  truly  baptized  into  him,  "are 
weak  (en  auto)  in  him,  but  we  shall  live  with  him  by  the 
power  of  God  tow-ard  us." — 2  Cor.  xiii,  4.  We  are  weak 
in  him,  in  a  realizing  sense  imparted  by  his  Spirit  in  us, 
of  the  desert  and  condemnation  of  sin,  and  of  its  prevail- 
ing power,  which  renders  our  emancipation  from  it  a  cru- 
cifixion of  the  flesh,  the  agonies  of  which  we  voluntarily 
incur.  And  we  live  with  him,  in  the  present  life  of  the 
new  man  after  his  image,  created  by  the  baptism  of  his 
Spirit  in  us,  as  we  shall  finally  live  with  him  in  the  life  of 
glory.  Thus  we  are  joined  with  him  in  the  likeness  of  his 
death,  and  also  of  his  resurrection. 

From  this  analysis,  it  is  evident  that  the  assumption 
of  allusion  to  a  supposed  ritual  burial  is  wholly  unnecessary 
to  the  exegesis  of  the  passage.  In  fact,  the  supposition 
of  such  allusion  is  altogether  incongruous  and  confusing  to 
the  argument  of  the  place.  (1.)  The  real  baptism  and  its 
effects  are  the  alone  subjects  of  the  discussion;  and  any 
exegesis  w'hich  ignores  this  must  lead  to  error.  (2.)  The 
burial  of  which  the  apostle  speaks  is  spiritual,  as  well  as  is 
the  baptism.  The  two  are  in  no  sense  identical;  but  the 
one  is,  by  the  apostle  distinctly  and  sharply  discriminated 
from  the  other.  The  baptism  is  the  primary  cause,  of 
which  the  burial  is  one,  and  but  one,  of  the  results.  The 
baptism  is  the  shedding  upon  us  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  life 


370  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Pakt  XII. 

in  Christ  Jesus.  The  burial  is  the  putting  away,  and  ob- 
literating of  the  old  man  out  of  our  lives.  It  follows, 
that  in  any  parallel  figurative  or  ritual  system,  each  one 
of  these  spiritual  realities  must  have  its  own  analogue,  as 
distinctly  defined  and  discriminated,  each  from  the  other, 
as  are  the  realities  which  they  are  designed  to  represent. 
And,  in  fact,  such  is  the  figurative  system  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, which  represent  the  one  by  the  figure  of  the  out- 
pouring of  water,  and  the  other  by  the  burial  of  the  dead. 
To  interpret,  therefore,  a  ritual  baptism  as  symbolic  of 
the  spiritual  burial,  is  as  incongruous  to  the  Scriptural 
conception,  as  would  be  the  employment  of  the  burial  of 
the  dead  to  represent  the  outpouring  upon  us  of  the  Spirit 
of  life.  And  to  understand  the  apostle,  by  the  expression, 
"buried  by  the  baptism"  to  mean  directly  the  spiritual 
phenomenon  which  the  phrase  designates,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  convey  an  allusion  to  a  ritual  baptism  as  being  a 
symbol  of  the  burial,  is  an  absurdity  which  does  violence 
to  the  whole  conception,  to  the  destruction  of  its  propriety 
and  significance.  For,  not  only  are  the  two  thus  sharply 
discriminated  by  Paul,  but  he  attributes  to  each  its  own 
relations  and  predicates,  and  assigns  to  each  its  own  place 
in  the  scheme  of  grace  and  in  the  argument  which  he 
states.  To  neglect,  therefore,  the  distinction,  and  confound 
them  together,  as  is  done  by  the  Baptist  interpretation, 
destroys  the  whole  logical  force  and  sequence  of  the  argu- 
ment,' and  dissolves  the  connection  between  the  premises 
and  the  conclusions. 

Moreover,  were  it  even  allowable,  as  it  is  not,  thus  to 
confound  things  that  differ,  there  still  remains  a  point  of  dif- 
ficulty in  the  way  of  the  immersion  exegesis  which,  for  its 
removal,  demands  something  more  than  the  mere  assump- 
tion which  has  heretofore  been  put  in  the  place  of  proof. 
The  apostle  speaks,  not  of  immersion,  but  of  burial. 
''  Buried  with  him."  That  the  two  ideas  are  not  identical 
does  not  need  to  be  proved.     Nor  is  the  diflference  so  slight 


Sec.  LXXIX.]  BURIED  IN  BAPTISM.  371 

that  the  oue  would  readily  suggest  itself  as  a  figure  of  the 
other.  But  iu  order  to  sustain  the  Baptist  couclusions 
which  depend  ou  this  language,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
demonstrate  that  the  rites  of  sepulture  with  w'hich  the 
Avriters  of  the  Scriptures  were  familiar,  and  in  conformity 
to  which  the  body  of  Jesus  was  entombed,  bore  a  resem- 
blance to  immersion  iu  water,  so  close  and  manifest,  that 
the  one  was  a  recognized  symbol  of  the  other.  But  there 
is  certainly  no  such  resemblance  as  to  justify  the  gratuitous 
assumption  that  such  a  figure  w^as  employed ;  and  of  its 
actual  use,  the  Scriptures  contain  not  a  trace. 

Is  it  still  insisted  that,  nevertheless,  there  is  an  allusion 
to  the  rite  of  immersion  ?  Such  an  allusion  must  be  sup- 
posed to  shed  light  or  beauty  upon  the  presentation  of  the 
spiritual  theme  of  the  passage ;  or,  it  is  an  arbitrary  im- 
pertinence. Let  us  then  view  the  suggestion  squarely,  in 
the  light  of  the  realized  observance,  thus  forced  into  criti- 
cal notice.  The  theme  of  the  apostle  is  the  calm  majesty 
and  power  of  the  Savior's  three  days'  rest  in  the  sepulcher, 
and  of  the  silent  and  unseen  mystery  of  his  rising  on  the 
third  day ;  and  the  tranquil  energy  of  the  same  mighty 
power  in  the  believer  (Ej^h.  i,  19,  20;  ii,  1),  by  which  he 
is  quickened  and  raised  up  to  the  life  of  holiness.  The  fig- 
ure which  is  intruded,  to  illuminate  and  adorn  this  con- 
ception, calls  up  before  us  the  apprehension  and  haste  of 
the  ritual  observance,  and  the  agitation,  the  gasping  and 
sputter  of  the  dripping  subjects  of  the  rite,  as  they  struggle 
up  out  of  the  "  watery  grave."  Is  it  possible  to  conceive  that 
master  of  rhetoric,  the  apostle  Paul,  to  have  called  up 
these,  the  essential  and  inseparable  features  of  the  rite  of 
immersion,  as  a  means  of  shedding  light  or  beauty  on  his 
exalted  theme? 

Section  LXXIX. — ^'Buried  iviiJi  Him  in  Baptism." 

Col.  ii,  9-13.—"  In  Him  dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily.     And  ye  are  complete  in  him,  which  is 


372  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Paut  XII. 

the  head  of  all  principality  and  power.  In  whom,  also,  ye 
are  circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made  without  hands, 
in  putting  oif  the  body  of  the  flesh  by  the  circumcision  of 
Christ  (suntaphentes  auto  en  to  baptismati),  having  been  buried 
with  him  by  the  baptism,  wherein  also  ye  were  raised  up 
with  him,  through  the  faith  of  the  operation  of  God,  who 
raised  him  from  the  dead.  And  you,  being  dead  in  your 
sins  and  the  uncircumcision  of  your  flesh,  did  he  quicken 
together  with  him,  having  forgiven  you  all  trespasses." 
Here,  in  the  phrase, — "  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  fl.esh," 
which  is  the  reading  of  the  common  version,  the  critical 
editors  unite  in  rejecting  (Jiamartion)  "of  the  sins,"  which 
was  undoubtedly  a  gloss  inserted  from  the  margin,  in  care- 
less transcription. 

It  is  evident  that  the  doctrine  and  argument  of  the 
passage  just  examined  from  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  and 
this  to  the  Colossians  are  essentially  the  same.  In  the 
former,  Paul  shows  that  the  child  of  God  can  not  live  in 
sin ; — in  the  latter  that  he  ought  to  walk  in  Christ.  The 
controlling  motive  of  the  apostle's  argument,  here,  is,  to 
free>his  readers  from  the  bondage  of  ritual  ordinances  and 
human  devices  of  religion.  He  begins  with  the  admoni- 
tion,— "  Beware  lest  any  man  spoil  you  through  philosophy 
and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradition  of  men,  after  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  world,  and  not  after  Christ." — vs.  8.  To  ' 
this,  he  again  recurs  as  the  conclusion  of  his  argument. — 
"Therefore,  if  ye  be  dead  with  Christ,  from  the  rudiments 
of  the  world,  why  as  though  living  in  the  world  are  ye 
subject  to  ordinances,  .  .  .  after  the  commandments  and 
doctrines  of  men?" — vs.  20,  21.  It  is  with  a  view  to  these 
things  that  the  exhortation  is  written, — "As  ye  have  re- 
ceived Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so,  walk  ye  in  him,  rooted 
and  built  up  in  Am,  and  established  in  the  faith"  as  con- 
trasted with  these  traditions  of  men.  Thus,  as  in  the 
parallel  plea  to  the  Romans,  s>)  here,  the  determining  idea 
is   union   with  the  Lord  Jesus, — that  spiritual   union  of 


Sec.  LXXIX.]  BURIED  IN  BAPTISM.  373 

-which  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  is  the  efficient  and  only 
cause.  The  dignity  and  glory  conferred  by  it  are  empha- 
sized by  the  declaration  that  "  in  Him  dwelleth  all, 
{pleroma)  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily."  In  the  per- 
son of  Jesus,  the  Son  is  incarnate ;  the  Father's  glory  and 
power  invest  him,  and  the  Spirit  is  his  and  dwells  in  him. 
"And  ye  are  (pepleromenoi)  made  fall  in  him."  "Made 
full  in  him  "  by  virtue  of  that  mutual  relation  which  Jesus 
describes; — "  You  in  me,  and  I  in  you." — John  xiv,  20. 
Thus,  made  full,  with  all  the  graces  of  his  indwelling 
Spirit,  and  so  needing  no  recourse  to  the  rudiments  of  the 
world.  With  this  fullness  of  grace,  the  apostle  then  con- 
trasts the  coincident  emptying  of  the  old  man.  "In  whom 
ye  are  circumcised  with  the  circumcision  made  without 
hands,  in  putting  off  the  body  of  the  flesh,  by  the  circum- 
cision of  Christ."  Circumcision  signified  the  cutting  off 
and  destruction  of  the  corrupt  nature  derived  by  genera- 
tion, the  old  man,  through  the  blood  and  sufferings  of  the 
promised  Seed  of  Abraham.  This  operation  is  here  called 
"  the  circumcision  of  Christ,"  as  it  is  that  spiritual  reality 
of  which  ritual  circumcision  was  the  type.  The  apostle 
holds  it  up  to  view,  as  the  substance,  in  contrast  with  the 
emptiness  of  the  ritual  shadow,  against  dependence  ou 
which  he  dissuades  his  Colossian  readers.  This  circum- 
cision of  Christ  he  proceeds  to  explain  farther.  "  Putting 
off  the  body  of  the  flesh,  by  the  circumcision  of  Christ, 
(suntaphentes  auto)  having  been  buried  with  him  in  the  bap- 
tism." In  the  conception  and  argument  of  the  apostle, 
emphasis  rests  on  the  definite  article,  which  here,  and  in 
the  parallel  place,  already  examined,  is  ignored  in  the  com- 
mon English  version,  and  in  the  Revised  version.  Paul's 
aim  in  this  place  is  to  hold  up  the  spiritual  realities  of  the 
gospel  in  contrast  witli  the  emptiness  of  ritual  forms.  He 
coordinates  ''the  baptism"  with  "the  circumcision  of 
Christ,"  in  producing  the  spiritual  phenomena  of  which  he 
is  speaking.     Or,  rather,  he  postulates  the  baptism  as  the 


374  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  XII. 

ultimate  cause  of  the  circumcision  and  its  results.  That, 
by  the  phrase,  "  the  baptism,"  he  designates  the  same 
thing  as  in  Romans  vi,  4,  is  evident,  as  it  is  also  that  as 
in  that  place,  so  here,  the  baptism  is  not  the  burial,  but 
is  related  to  it,  as  the  cause  to  the  effect. — "Buried  with 
him  hxj  the  baptism."  How  the  baptism  effects  the  burial, 
has  been  shown  in  that  place.  The  distinction  between 
the  two,  which  is  there  so  strongly  marked,  is  in  this  pass- 
age equally  clear  and  important;  and  the  consequences 
there  traced  are  here  as  legitimate  and  pertinent.  The 
supposition  of  an  allusion  to  immersion  in  water,  in  either 
place,  is  utterly  groundless,  and  in  both  alike  incongruous 
and  destructive  to  the  apostle's  conception  and  argument. 
Certainly,  this  place  no  more  than  the  other  necessitates 
recourse  to  the  supposed  rite  of  immersion,  in  order  to  a 
rational  interpretation.  And  it  is  equally  certain  that  at 
the  touch  of  a  discriminating  exegesis  the  supposed  allusion 
to  such  a  rite  vanishes  utterly  away. 

Section  LXXX. — End  of  the  Baptist  Argument. 

The  Baptist  position  rests  on  two  assumptions.  The 
first  is,  that  baptizo  means,  to  dip,  to  immerse,  to  sub- 
merge,— one  or  other  of  these,  as  the  different  advocates 
of  the  cause  may  select, — aiid  nothing  else.  The  second  is, 
that  on  account  of  its  resemblance  to  the  laying  of  the 
body  of  Jesus  in  the  sepulchre,  the  rite  of  dipping,  immer- 
sion, or  submersion  in  water  was  appointed  as  a  symbol  of 
his  entombing.  The  first  of  these  assumptions  is  essential 
to  vindicate  the  mode  in  question,  and  the  second  to  estab- 
lish its  typical  significance.  If  baptizo  does  not  mean  as 
defined,  or  if  that  is  not  the  only  meaning,  the  whole  im- 
mersion fabric  falls  to  the  ground.  And  if  the  second 
proposition  is  not  established,  the  rite  becomes  an  unmean- 
ing absurdity. — On  these  vital  points,  the  following  are  the 
results  of  the  evidence  thus  far  developed  in  these  pages. 

1.  While  the  Scriptures  everywhere,  in  the  Old  Testa- 


Sec.  LXXX.]  EXD  OF  THE  ARGUMENT.  375 

meDt  and  the  New,  are  full  of  the  doctrine  of  the  baptism 
of  the  Spirit, — while  the  divers  baptisms  of  the  Mosaic  rit- 
ual were  unquestionably  typical  of  it,  and  the  prophecies 
al)ound  in  references  to  it  under  the  figure  of  affusion — 
the  sprinkling  of  water,  and  the  outpouring  of  rain, — the 
rite  of  immersion  does  not  pretend  to  any  better  evidence 
than  is  found  in  a  definition  of  baptizo,  which  is  now  ad- 
mitted to  be  erroneous,  and  a  few  expressions  in  the  New 
Testament  which  are  at  best  of  questionable  interpretation. 
Aside  from  these,  it  is  foreign  and  uncongenial  to  the  whole 
tenor  of  conception  and  language  of  the  New  Testament  as 
well  as  of  the  Old. 

2.  Not  to  insist  on  the  special  conclusions  of  Dale, — the 
admissions  of  Dr.  Conant,  confirmed  by  the  authority  of 
Prof.  Keudrick,  prove  that  the  word  does  n.ot  mean,  to  dip, 
to  put  in  the  water  and  take  out  again ;  but  to  put  under 
the  water,  to  submerge.  The  rite,  then,  consists  in  sub- 
merging the  subjects.  In  that  action  the  baptism  is  com- 
pleted. There  is  therefore  in  it  no  symbol  nor  suggestion 
of  the  resurrection. 

3.  The  elaborate  researches  of  Dr.  Dale,  and  the  re- 
sults established  by  the  investigations  of  this  volume,  are 
confirmed  by  the  distinct  admission  of  Dr.  Conant,  that  the 
primary  is  not  the  only  meaning  of  the  word.  It  not  only 
means,  to  submerge,  but  also,  ''the  coming  into  a  new 
state  of  life  or  experience."  Thus,  the  citadel  of  the  im- 
mersion position  is  definitely  abandoned.  The  word  is  not 
limited  to  one  meaning.  The  mere  fact,  therefore,  that  it 
occurs,  in  any  given  place,  decides  nothing  as  to  the  form 
of  action  expressed  by  it ;  since  the  question  always  arises, — 
In  what  sense  is  the  word  here  used?  a  question  which,  in 
every  instance,  must  be  decided  by  evidence  outside  the 
word.  Until  so  decided,  any  inference  from  the  word  is 
mere  assumption. 

4.  To  re-establish  the  crumbling  structure  of  immer- 
sion, the  prepositions  avail  nothing;  since  they  are  as  con- 


376  THE  BAPTIST  ARGUMENT.  [Part  XII. 

gruous   to   the   supposition   that   the   rite   was    performed 
by  afFusion. 

5.  The  many  waters  of  Enon  prove  nothiug  to  the  pur- 
pose ;  since  abundance  of  water  was  necessary  to  John's 
congregations,  had  he  made  no  ritual  use  of  it   whatever. 

6.  Equally  futile  is  appeal  to  Paul's  "  buried  by  the  bap- 
tism," as  the  imagined  allusion  is  unnecessary  to  the  inter- 
pretation, incongruous  to  the  argument,  and  destructive  of 
the  distinctions  which  the  apostle  draws,  and  the  conclu- 
sions which  he  deduces. 

7.  As  to  the  remaining  argument,  from  the  baptism  of 
the  eunuch,  we  shall  see  hereafter,  that  while  the  facts  re- 
corded decide  nothing,  they  create  a  presumption  which  dis- 
tinctly indicates  afFusion. 

Thus,  the  rite  in  question, — foreign  to  the  whole  style 
of  the  Old  Testament,  its  ritual  and  prophecies^and  equally 
so  to  the  language  and  doctrines  of  the  New, — is  left  with- 
out a  vestige  of  evidence,  anywhere,  Avhether  as  to  mode 
or  meaning,  even  in  those  particular  words  and  passages 
which  have  been  the  reliance  of  its  advocates. 


Skc.  LXXXL]      CONTRARY  TO   THE  GOSPEL.  377 


Part  XIII. 

BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION. 

Section  LXXXI. — J7ie  Doctrine  is  Contrary  to  the  Whole 
Tenor  of  tJie  Gospel 

PAUL  was  yet  in  the  meridian  of  his  strength,  and  the 
most  active  period  of  his  ministry,  when  he  wrote  to 
the  Thessalonians  that  "the  mystery  of  iniquity  doth 
already  work," — the  mystery  out  of  which  was  to  be  de- 
veloped "  that  Wicked,  whom  the  Lord  shall  consume  with 
the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  destroy  Avith  the  bright- 
ness of  his  coming/' — 2  Thes.  ii,  7,  8.  There  is  nothing 
more  remarkable,  nor  more  humiliating,  in  the  history  of 
the  church  than  the  rapid  defection  from  the  simplicity  of 
the  gospel  which  is  apjmrent  in  the  early  remains  of  patristic 
literature.  The  transition  from  the  apostles  and  evangelists 
in  the  New  Testament,  to  the  writings  of  the  fathers,  is 
like  that  from  the  splendor  of  the  noonday  sun  to  the 
deepening  twilight  of  the  evening.  It  was  the  precursor 
of  "  the  black  and  dark  night,"  by  which  the  gospel  was 
obscured  for  so  many  ages,  and  which  still  enshrouds  the 
churches  of  Rome  and  the  East  in  a  mantle  of  gloom. 
Of  this  defection,  the  all-powerful  cause  was  a  false  and 
mischievous  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  concerning  the 
relation  of  the  covenant  of  Sinai  to  the  new  covenant. 
They  were  interpreted  as  teaching  that  the  visible  church 
and  its  ordinances  under  the  New  Testament  economy,  was 
the  antitype  of  the  Levitical  church  and  institutions, — that 
the  ritos  and  ceremonies  of  the  latter  wore  the  shadow,  of 
which  the  ordinances  of  the  Christian  church  are  the  sub- 
stance.   Hence  the  Christian  ministry  became  a  prfesthood. 


378  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.         [Paut  XIII. 

miDistering  better  sacrifices  and  more  effectual  purifyings  than 
those  of  the  Mosaic  ritual;  for  in  their  hands  and  by  virtue  of 
their  consecrating  prayers,  the  Lord's  supper  became  a  pro- 
jDitiatory  sacrifice  of  the  very  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord 
Jesils,  and  baptism  administered  by  them  became  a  spiritual 
regeneration, — a  purging  of  the  conscience, — the  true  bap- 
tism foreshadowed  by  the  "  type  baptism"  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Thus,  Didymus  Alexandriuus,  having  quoted  Ezek. 
xxxvi,  22, — "  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  clean  from  all  your  sins ;"  and  Psa.  li,  7, — "  Sprinkle 
me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean ;  wash  me,  and  I 
shall  be  Avhiter  than  snow;"  says, — "For  the  sprinkling 
with  hyssop  was  Judaic  purification ;  which  is  continued 
by  them  to  the  present  time ;  but  '  whiter  than  snow,'  de- 
notes Christian  illumination,  which  is  baptism.  And  Peter, 
that  he  may  show  in  his  first  epistle,  that  if  baptism,  which 
was  formerly,  in  shadow  (en  shia)  saved,  much  more  that 
which  was  in  reality  (en  aletheia)  immortalizes  and  deifies 
us,  wrote  thus; — 'Antitype  baptism  now  saves  us.'"^  So 
Ambrose,  as  already  quoted,  says  of  the  Psalmist, — "He 
asks  to  be  cleansed  by  hyssop,  according  to  the  law.  He 
desires  to  be  washed,  according  to  the  gospel.  He  who 
would  be  cleansed  by  typical  baptism  was  sprinkled  with 
the  blood  of  a  lamb,  by  means  of  a  bunch  of  hyssop."  Of 
the  doctrine  of  baptism,  as  thus  conceived,  Tertullian  says, — 
"All  waters  in  virtue  of  the  pristine  privilege  of  their 
origin, t  do,  after  invocation  of  God  accomplish  sanctifica- 
tion ;  for  the  Spirit  immediately  comes  from  heaven  and 
rests  upon  the  waters,  sanctifying  them  by  his  own  power ; 
and  they  being  thus  sanctified,  therewith  acquire  the  power 
of  sanctifying."  X  Derived  from  this  is  the  modern  doctrine 
of  baptismal  regeneration,  according  to  which,  it  is  onlv  in 

*Did.  Alex,  xxxix,  716.     In  Dale's  Christ.  Bapt.  p.  3-^2. 
tHe  alhides  to  a  relation  to  the  Spirit,  supposed  to  be  in- 
dicated in  Gen.  i,  2. 

t  Tertullianus,  De  Bapt.,  eh.  iv. 


Sec.  LXXXI.]         CONTRARY  TO  THE  GOSPEL.  379 

and  through  the  baptism  of  water  that  the  renewing  grace 
of  the  Spirit  is  imparted  to  men. 

It  is  manifest  that  if  this  doctrine  be  true,  baptism  is 
the  "one  thing  needful;"  and  the  church  of  Rome,  and 
ritualists  everywhere  are  right  in  the  unanimity  with  which 
they  reduce  the  preaching  of  the  word  to  a  secondary 
place,  and  count  the  progress  of  the  gospel  by  the  numbers 
who  have  been  subjected  to  the  life-giving  rite.  If  it  be 
true,  then  water  baptism  should  be  the  theme  of  the  New 
Testament;  and  the  apostles  and  Christian  ministry  must 
have  been  commissioned  and  sent  forth,  not  to  preach  the 
gospel;  but  to  baptize.  What  says  the  Word  of  God  on 
these  points? 

1.  As  to  the  gospel  commission,  and  the  instructions 
connected  therewith,  we  have  accounts  from  each  of  the 
four  evangelists.  John  confines  himself  almost  entirely  to 
those,  of  such  supreme  interest,  which  Jesus  uttered  at  the 
table,  the  night  of  the  betrayal.  Matthew,  Mark,  and 
Luke  record  the  essential  facts  which  occurred  after  the  res- 
urrection. The  first  thing  that  presents  itself  in  examining 
these  accounts  is,  that  of  baptism,  as  connected  with  the  last 
instructions  given  the  apostles,  neither  Luke  nor  John  say 
one  word.  Thus,  if  the  doctrine  in  question  be  true,  these 
two  evangelists  are  guilty  of  leaving  out  of  their  record 
the  very  heart  and  essence  of  the  whole  matter.  This  is 
the  more  remarkable,  if  we  consider  the  character  of  the 
"writers  who  are  thus  chargeable.  Did  we  forget  the  Spirit 
which  guided  their  pens,  it  is  yet  impossible  to  imagine 
that  Luke,  *'the  beloved  physician,"  disciple,  and  com- 
panicm  of  Paul,  can  have  been  unaware  of  the  just  pro- 
portion to  be  preserved  in  his  narrative;  so  as  to  ignore  a 
matter  important  as  this.  Or,  John,  the  kinsman  of  Jesus, 
the  beloved  disciple,  Avho  in  the  privilege  of  a  perfect  con- 
fidence and  love,  lay  on  his  bosom,  and  who  received  from 
the  cross  the  Ici^acy  of  the  stricken  mother, — John  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  mind  of  his  Master,  on  a  subject  like 


380  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.  [Part  XIII. 

tins,  upon  T\'liicli  depend  the  whole  results  of  the  work  of 
redemption.  The  silence  of  these  writers  was  not  inad- 
vertent, and  it  is  fatal  to  the  theory  in  question.  What 
they  do  not  report  can  have  no  place  among  the  essentials 
of  the  plan  of  salvation.  It  still,  however,  remains  to 
account  for  their  silence  respecting  the  ritual  ordinance  of 
baptism;  which,  apart  from  the  unwarranted  theory  in 
question,  all  agree  to  be  of  divine  authority.  To  this 
point  we  will  return  hereafter. 

If,  now,  we  turn  to  the  other  evangelists,  the  record 
of  Matthew  is  as  follows:  Matt,  xxviii,  16-20.  ''Then 
the  eleven  disciples  went  away  into  Galilee,  into  a  mount- 
ain where  Jesus  had  appointed  them.  And  when  they 
saw  him,  they  worshiped  him;  but  some  doubted.  And 
Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them,  sayiug.  All  power  is 
given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore, 
and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  (eh  to  Jionoina^,  into 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I 
have  commanded  you:  and  lo!  I  am  with  you  alway  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Here,  it  can  not  be  pretended 
that  there  is  auy  thing  to  countenance  the  idea  of  baptis- 
mal regeneration.  The  admiaistering  of  the  rite  is  eujoined 
on  the  apostles.  But  no  hint  is  given  of  its  being  neces- 
sary to  salvation ;  and  no  such  stress  is  laid  upon  it  as  to 
imply  such  necessity. 

Mark  records  the  language  of  Jesus  on  another  occa- 
sion. Mark  xvi,  14-16,— "He  appeared  to  the  eleven,  as 
they  sat  at  meat,  and  upbraided  them  with  their  unbelief 
and  hardness  of  heart,  because  they  believed  not  them 
which  had  seen  him  after  he  was  risen.  And  he  said  unto 
them,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall 
be  saved;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 
Here,  is  no  more  of  baptismal  regeneration  than  we  have 
found  in  Matthew.    Emphasis  is,  indeed,  given  to  baptism, 


Sec.  LXXXI.]     CONTRARY  TO   THE  GOSPEL,  381 

by  the  connection  in  which  it  is  introduced.  But  at  the 
very  point  on  which  all  depends  the  evidence  gives  way. 
"He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  but 
he  that  believeth  not — shall  be  damned."  Thus  explicitly 
Jesus  utters  sentence  of  perdition  against  unbelief.  But 
he  as  explicitly  omits  baptism  from  mention  on  that  side 
of  the  alternative,  and  thus  expressly  limits  the  condem- 
ning sentence  to  unbelief.  Either  this  language  is  designed 
to  represent  baptism  as  important  but  not  essential ;  or,  it 
is  a  snare  which  must  take  men  at  unawares,  and  involve 
them  in  danger  of  destruction  from  ignorance  of  the  neces- 
sity of  the  rite.  Here  then  is  no  baptismal  regeneration. 
The  same  inference  follows  from  the  silence  of  the  other 
evangelists  on  this  point.  The  eleven  were  all  present  and 
heard  these  words.  If  they  were  meant  to  imply  baptis- 
mal regeneration,  they  were  of  the  very  highest  moment. 
They  could  not,  therefore,  be  ignored,  but  must  have  been 
the  very  center  and  controlling  principle  of  all  their  writ- 
ings and  teachings.  And  yet,  the  other  gospels  ignore 
them ;  and  the  epistles  are  equally  silent.  It  is,  therefore, 
certain  that  the  apostles  did  not  understand  the  expres- 
sions, in  the  supposed  sense.  The  true  principle  of  har- 
mony for  the  interpretation  of  all  these  facts  will  be  pre- 
sented in  another  place. 

2.  If  now  we  examine  the  position  of  the  great  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  we  shall  find  him  give  place  by  subjection 
to  this  doctrine, — no,  not  for  an  hour.  His  is  an  inde- 
pendent testimony ;  for  he  was  not  with  the  eleven  under 
the  personal  ministry  of  Christ.  It  is  also  fuller  than  any 
other;  running  through  his  thirteen  epistles.  First,  we 
find  that  it  was  not  his  habit  to  baptize  the  converts  of  his 
own  ministry;  and  that,  upon  principle.  He  says  to  the 
Corinthians, — "I  thank  God  that  I  baptized  none  of  you 
but  Crispus  and  Gains;  lest  any  should  say  that  I  had 
baptized  in  my  own  name.  And  I  baptized  also  the  house- 
hold of  Stephanas.     Besides,  I  know   not  whether  I  bap- 


382  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.         [Paut  XIII. 

tized  any  other.  For  Christ  sent  me,  not  to  baptize,  but 
to  preach  the  gospel." — 1  Cor.  i,  14-17.  He  moreover 
states  the  reason  of  his  special  devotion  thus  to  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel, — because  "it  pleased  God  by  the  foolishness 
of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe.''^ — v.  21.  Here  be 
it  observed,  the  apostle  speaks  of  preaching,  not  abstractly 
considered,  but  in  immediate  contrast  with  baptism.  He 
does  not  baptize ;  but  preaches,  because  preaching  is  the 
means  which  God  has  chosen  for  the  salvation  of  men 
through  faith.  Thus,  baptism  is,  in  the  plainest  terms  de- 
nied the  place  assigned  it  by  the  theory  in  question.  But 
the  evidence  is  even  more  direct  and  conclusive.  To  these 
same  Corinthians  whom  Paul  thus  reminded  that  he  had 
not  baptized  them,  he  addressed  a  second  epistle,  in  which 
he  distinctly  asserts  that  through  his  personal  ministry  the 
Spirit  of  God  had  been  given  them  and  new  life  wrought 
within  them.  "  Ye  are  our  epistle  written  in  your  hearts,* 
known  and  read  of  all  men ;  forasmuch  as  ye  are  mani- 
festly declared  to  be  the  epistle  of  Christ  ministered  by  us, 
written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God; 
not  in  tables  of  stone,  btit  in  the  fleshly  tables  of  the 
heart."  He  goes  on  to  assert  his  ministry  to  be  "of  the 
new  covenant;  not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit;  for 
the  letter  killeth ;  but  the  spirit  giveth  life." — 2  Cor.  iii,  2, 
3,  6.  It  needs  no  words,  here,  to  show  that  thus  the 
apostle  overturns  the  very  foundations  of  the  theory  of  bap- 
tismal regeneration.  Paul  did  not  baptize  the  Corinthians. 
But  he  ministered  to  them  the  Holy  Spirit  of  life  and 
grace, — the  true  baptism  of  which  he  speaks  so  largely  in 
his  epistles. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  go  farther  in  tracing  the  doctrine 
of  Paul  on  the  subject.     He  is  everywhere  consistent  with 


*  That  muov^  the  reading  of  the  Textus  Receptiis,  should  be 
viiuv,  ^'^  your  hearts,"  is  testified  by  a  number  of  MSS.,  among 
which  is  the  Sinaiticus,  and  is  imperatively  demanded  by  the 
connection. 


Sec.  LXXXL]      CONTRARY  TO  THE  GOSPEL.  383 

liiinself  as  thus  presented.  It  is  however  worthy  of  ex- 
jjress  uotice  that  in  his  three  epistles  to  Timothy  and  Tit4js, 
iu  wdiich  he  sets  forth  the  quahfications  and  duties  of ''the 
man  of  God,"  he  does  not  once  name  or  allude  to  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism.  Had  the  apostle  believed  the  doctrine 
of  baptismal  regeneration,  it  is  not  possible  that  he  could 
have  beeu  thus  silent.  But  what  need  is  there  of  thus  in- 
ferring the  sentiments  of  Paul  ?  His  favorite  doctrine,  ex- 
cludes and  condemns  this  theory  as  an  intrusive  heresy. 
*'  Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God,  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." — Rom.  v,  1.  "By  grace  ye  are 
saved,  tli7vugh  faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the 
gift  of  God." — Eph.  ii,  8.  "  O  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath 
bewitched  you?  .  .  .  This  only  would  I  learn  of  you,  Re- 
ceived ye  the  Spirit  by  the  works  of  the  law  or  by  the 
hearing  of  faith  f" — Gal.  iii,  1,  2.  How  is  it  that  by  no  ac- 
cident does  he  ever  say, — "  by  the  hearing  of  faith,  and 
by  baptismT'  It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  the  other 
apostles  in  their  writings  are  iu  perfect  accord  with  Paul. 
In  fact,  ritual  or  water  baptism  is  not  once  named  in  their 
epistles.  The  word,  itself,  occurs  in  them  all  only  once, — 
in  the  statement  of  Peter  respecting  "  antitype  baptism," 
which  has  been  already  examined.  If  the  apostles  and  evan- 
gelists are  true  witnesses  as  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  the  doc- 
trine of  baptismal  regeneration  is  contrary  to  his  teachings 
and  subversive  of  the  gospel. 

This  heresy  is  to  be  regarded  with  peculiar  detestation 
and  abhorrence  because  of  the  disparagement  which  it  does 
to  the  sovereignty  and  glory  of  Christ's  baptizing  scepter. 
In  any  and  every  form  of  it,  it  divides  the  work  of  grace 
between  Christ  and  the  human  administrators  of  the  empty 
sign.  It  subordinates  and  limits  the  sovereign  exercise  of 
his  saving  power  to  the  discretion  of  their  wisdom  and  will, 
to  the  measure  of  their  fidelity  and  ardor  of  their  zeal. 
Whom  they  baptize, — upon  them  his  grace  may  be  be- 
stowed, and  upon  them  only. 


384  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.         [Part  XI IL 

We  shall  not  examine  in  detail  all  the  Scriptures  which 
are  appealed  to  in  support  of  this  theory.  There  are  two 
which  are  the  chief  reliance  of  its  advocates,  an  examina- 
tion of  which  will  be  sufficient.  If  not  in  them,  the  doc- 
trine is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Bible.  They  are,  John  iii, 
5,  and  Eph.  v,  25-27. 

Section  LXXXII. — "Born  of  Water  and  of  the  Spirit." 

Said  Jesus  to  Nicodemus, — "Except  a  man  be  born  of 
*  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God."— John  iii,  5.  Dr.  Pusey  asserts  that  "The 
Christian  church  uniformly  for  fifteen  centuries  interpreted 
these  words  of  baptism  ;  on  the  ground  of  this  text  alone, 
they  urged  the  necessity  of  baptism ;  upon  it  they  identified 
regeneration  with  baptism."  If  the  position  thus  maintained 
by  the  churches  of  Rome  and  the  east  for  so  many  centuries 
be  the  truth,  it  presents  the  Savior,  the  apostles  and  evan- 
gelists, and  the  Scriptures  written  by  them,  in  a  most  ex- 
traordinary light.  In  the  very  beginning  of  his  ministry, 
in  a  private  interview  with  the  Jewish  ruler,  Jesus  imparts 
to  him  this  doctrine,  on  which  confessedly  the  salvation 
of  every  man  depends.  But,  from  that  hour,  neither  he 
nor  his  apostles  ever  name  it.  In  his  public  instructions 
to  the  people, — in  his  private  interviews  with  his  disci- 
ples,— in  those  particular  and  assiduous  teachings  by  which, 
as  his  own  ministry  drew  to  a  close,  he  put  them  in  pos- 
session of  his  whole  mind  concerning  their  ministry  and  the 
world's  salvation  (John  xv,  15),  he  is  persistently  and 
entirely  silent  on  this  vital  point.  "  Still,"  says  Dr.  Pusey, 
"the  truth  in  holy  Scripture  is  not  less  God's  truth,  be- 
cause contained  in  one  passage  only."  The  principle  is 
sound ;  but  its  application  here  is  a  mere  begging  of  the 
question.  That  question  is.  What  mean  these  words? 
And  the  above  axiom  is  no  more  true,  and  much  less  per- 
tinent to  the  present  occasion  than  is  the  rule  of  interpreta- 
tion laid  down   by  Paul.      "  Having  then  gifts  differing 


Sec.  LXXXIL]    DORN  OF  WATER  AND  OF  THE  SPIRIT.     385 

according  to  the  grace  that  is  given  to  us,  whether  prophecy, 
let  us  prophesy  according  to  the  proportion  of  faith." — 
Rom.  xii,  6.  An  interpretation  which  takes  a  passage  out 
of  all  congruous  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
overturns,  the  very  foundations  of  the  faith  therein  set 
forth,  is  false.  And  such  is  the  inj:erpretation  in  question. 
The  circumstances  and  connection  indicate  the  true  mean- 
ing of  the  passage. 

That  Nicoderaus,  although  perhaps  lacking  in  courage, 
was  an  honest  inquirer  after  the  truth,  is  evinced  by  the  cir- 
cumstances of  this  interview  and  by  his  subsequent  history. 
He  came  by  night,  for  fear  of  the  Jews.  He  came  not  to 
cavil  but  to  be  taught,  as  apj^ears  alike  from  his  own 
language  and  the  manner  of  Christ's  dealing  with  him. 
John  had  been  for  some  time  causing  the  land  to  ring  with 
his  warning  cry ;  and  men's  hearts  were  in  expectation  be- 
cause of  it  and  his  baptism.  After  this  intervicAV  of  Mco- 
demus  with  Jesus,  we  incidentally  learn  that  in  connection 
w^ith  Christ's  preaching  his  disciples  also  baptized.  And 
their  baptism  was  assuredly  of  the  same  intent  as  that  of 
John, — to  prefigure  the  office  of  the  Baptizer  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.  We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  their  baptism 
was  from  the  beginning  associated  witli  Christ's  ministry. 
Of  these  facts,  a  man  of  the  rank  and  intelligence  of  Nico- 
demus,  and  in  his  state  of  mind,  could  not  be  ignorant. 
He  therefore  comes  for  instruction  as  to  the  way  of  salva- 
tion. At  the  beginning  of  the  interview,  he  places  himself 
definitely  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  as  a  disciple  to  be  taught  of 
him.  ''  Rabbi,  we  hnoio  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from 
God ;  for  no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that  thou  doest 
except  God  be  with  him."  To  an  application  thus  so  pre- 
cisely in  accord  with  Christ's  own  testimonies  as  to  himself 
and  his  miracles  (John  v,  36;  x,  25;  xiv,  10,  11),  he 
responds  by  entering  directly  upon  the  question  which  was 
agitating  the  ruler's  heart, — that  great  question, — How  to 
be  saved?     ''Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Verily, 

33 


386  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.         [Part  XIII. 

verily,  I  say  UDto  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he 
can  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God," — that  kingdom  of  which 
the  cry  then  was,  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 
The  figure  of  the  new  birth  was  strange  to  Nicodemus ;  for, 
while  the  doctrine  of  renewing  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is  familiar 
to  the  Old  Testament  writers, — the  figure  of  a  new  birth  is 
not  found  in  them.  He  therefore  asks, — "  How  can  a  man 
be  born  when  he  is  old?"  Here  evidently  the  ruler  views 
the  matter  as  of  practical  and  present  interest  to  him  per- 
sonally. "  How  can  I,  Nicodemus,  at  my  age,  be  born 
again?"  The  purpose  of  Jesus,  in  using  this  new  illustra- 
tion was  thus  accomplished.  Old  truths  in  new  forms 
often  develop  a  power  which  otherwise  they  lack.  Jesus 
therefore,  now  answers,  by  a  figure,  familiar  to  his  hearer, 
in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and  in  the  baptisms  of 
John  and  of  Christ's  disciples,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God." 

From  this  view  of  the  connection  and  circumstances,  it 
is  evident  that  the  passage  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  of  the  baptisms  administered  at 
the  time  of  this  interview,  several  years  before  the  ascen- 
sion and  day  of  Pentecost ;  and  not  by  any  thing  peculiar 
to  the  time  subsequent  to  that  event.  But  it  is  an  essen- 
tial feature  of  the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  that  it 
holds  the  New  Testament  church  to  have  this  eminent  ad- 
vantage over  that  of  the  Old  Testament,  that  the  grace  of 
regeneration  is  peculiar  to  the  former,  and  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism  as  administered  subsequent  to  the  ascension  of 
Christ.  But  the  words  of  Christ  to  Nicodemus  were  no 
abstract  setting  forth  of  phenomena  of  grace  to  be  enjoyed 
by  the  church  in  a  coming  time,  but  an  explanation  of  the 
way  in  which  the  ruler  must  be  saved,  then  and  there, 
under  the  old  economy.  Viewing  it  in  this  hght  the  follow- 
ing are  the  facts  essential  to  the  exposition  of  the  passage. 

1.  The  figure  ot  metaphor  was  especially  congenial  to 


Sec.  LXXXIL]    BORN  OF  WATER  AND  OF  THE  SPIRIT.    387 

the  Hebrew  mind.  To  its  abundant  use,  the  Scriptures  are 
largely  indebted  for  the  energy  and  clearness  with  which 
the  profoundest  thoughts  are  there  presented.  "  Lord, 
thou  hast  been  our  dwelling  place  in  all  generations." — Ps. 
xc,  1.  "  Moab  is  my  ivash  pot." — Ps.  Ix,  8.  "In  the 
hand  of  the  Lord,  there  is  a  cup,  and  the  wine  is  red ;  it 
is  full  of  mixture ;  and  he  poureth  out  of  the  same ;  but 
the  dregs  thereof,  all  the  wicked  of  the  earth  shall  wring 
them  out  and  drink  them." — Ps.  Ixxv,  8.  "Unto  you 
that  fear  my  name  shall  tJie  sun  of  righteousness  arise  with 
healing  in  his  wings." — Mai.  iv,  2.  Who  would  imagine 
the  necessity  of  pausing  to  explain  that  these  expressions 
are  not  to  be  understood  literally? 

2.  Among  these  metaphors,  no  one  was  more  familiar 
to  the  Jews  than  that  of  water,  signifying  the  Holy  Spirit. 
"  I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty  and  floods  upon 
the  dry  ground.  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed  and 
my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring." — Isa.  xliv,  3.  This  fig- 
ure has  been  already  illustrated  abundantly  in  these  pages. 
It  is  only  here  important  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  upon 
it  the  whole  significance  of  John's  and  the  Old  Testament 
baptisms  depended, — which  were,  at  that  precise  time,  so 
earnestly  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  Jews. 

3.  This  very  figure  was  repeatedly  used  by  our  Saviour 
in  the  course  of  his  ministry.  To  the  woman  of  Samaria 
he  says,  "  thou  wouldst  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would 
have  given  thee  living  water.  .  .  .  Whosoever  drinketh  of 
tJw  water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  never  thirst;  but  the 
water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life." — John  iv,  10,  14. 
Again,  "  In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast, 
Jesus  stood  and  cried,  saying.  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  mc  and  drink.  He  that  belicvcth  on  me,  as 
the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers 
of  living  water." — lb.  vii,  37,  38.  It  is,  moreover,  to  be 
remarked  that  both  of  these  places  occur  in  the  same  gos- 


388  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.  [Part  XIK. 

pel  of  John  in  which  is  found  the  interview  with  Nico- 
demus.  Nor  is  it  without  significant  bearing  on  the  present 
point,  that  in  the  Revelation,  by  the  pen  of  this  same 
writer,  the  metaphor  of  water  is  conspicuous,  in  this  same 
sense.  "  The  Lamb  .  .  .  shall  lead  them  unto  living  fount- 
aius  of  waters." — Rev.  vii,  17.  The  Lord  Jesus  says,  — 
"I  will  give  to  him  that  is  athirst  of  the  fountain  of  the 
water  of  life  freely;" — lb.  xxi,  6.  John  sees  the  "pure 
river  of  water  of  life  clear  as  crystal  proceeding  out  of  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb ;" — lb.  xxii,  1.  And  the 
volume  of  revelation  closes  with  the  invitation, — "  Let  him 
that  is  athirst  come,  and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of 
the  water  of  life,  freely."— lb.  17. 

4.  The  Greek  conjunction,  ]za%^  ("and,")  does  not  al- 
ways express  addition ;  but  sometimes  indicates  an  ex- 
pository relation  between  two  members  of  a  sentence, 
and  is  equivalent  to,  even,  to  wit,  namely.  Thus, — "For 
blasphemy,  even  because  that  thou  being  a  man  makest 
thyself  God." — John  x,  33.  "  Hath  made  us  kings  and 
priests  unto  God,  even  his  Father." — Rev.  i,  6.  "A  golden 
cup,  full  of  abominations,  even  the  filthiness  of  her  forni- 
cations."— lb.  xvii,  4.  "But  ourselves,  ewTi  we  ourselves, 
groan." — Rom.  viii,  23.  "  God,  even  our  Father." — ^Phil. 
iv,  20.  Three  of  these  examples  being  from  the  writings 
of  John  again  illustrate  his  style.  It  is  evident  that  the 
phrase  in  question  may  be  translated  thus; — "Except  a 
man  be  born  of  water,  even  of  the  Spirit."  In  fact,  such 
must  have  been  the  sense  in  which  it  was  understood  by 
Nicodemus.  (1.')  The  phrase  is  professedly  explanatory. 
It  is  in  reply  to  the  perplexity  of  Nicodemus,  at  the 
primary  statement  of  Jesus, — "Except  a  man  be  born 
again," — an  expression  the  meaning  of  which  is  abundantly 
illustrated,  in  all  parts  of  the  New  Testament.  (2.)  The 
explanatory  clause  thus  introduced,  having  performed  its 
office,  immediately  drops  out  of  the  discourse,  which  sub- 
sequently dwells  upon  the  new  birth  of  the  Spirit  alone. 


Sec.  LXXXIL]    BORN  OF  WATER  AND  OF  THE  SPIRIT.     389 

**  Except  a  man  be  boru  of  water,  even  of  the  Spirit,  be 
can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  That  which  is 
born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  o/"  the 
Spirit  is  spirit.  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  ...  so 
is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit.'"  It  is  impossible  to 
account  for  the  manner  in  which,  after  the  one  explanatory- 
phrase,  the  water  is  thus  ignored  and  excluded,  upon  any- 
other  supposition  than  that  by  which  it  is  viewed  as  an 
interpretation  of  the  previous  expression,  a  metaphor  for 
the  Spirit.  (3.)  The  fact  that  in  the  circumstances,  it  was 
impossible  for  the  ruler  to  have  understood  the  language 
in  question  as  referring  to  a  water  baptism,  which,  upon 
the  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  was  not  to  be  admin- 
istered until  after  the  day  of  Pentecost;  and  that  he  was 
therefore  shut  up  to -regard  it  as  a  metaphor,  rendered  ex- 
planation necessary,  if  that  theory  is  true.  The  absence 
of  any  explanation  makes  it  certain  that  such  was  not  the 
meaning  of  Jesus. 

5.  The  author  of  this  narrative  had,  already,  in  the 
beginning  of  his  gospel  given  an  account  of  the  manner 
of  regeneration,  which  must  be  accepted  as  governing  the 
whole  of  his  subsequent  record  on  the  subject.  "As  many 
as  received  Him  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become" 
{exousian  genesthai,  "  gave  He  the  prerogative  of  being  ")  "  the 
sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  His  name; 
which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh, 
nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God." — John  i,  12,  13. 
Here,  it  is  not  suflicieut  to  say  that  baptismal  regeneration 
is  ignored.  It  is  absolutely  excluded.  The  born  of  God 
are  described  in  terms  both  exclusive  and  inclusive,  by  the 
phrase,  ^'As  many  as  received  him,  .  .  .  that  believed  on  his 
name."  These,  all  of  these,  and  none  but  these,  were  born 
of.  God.  The  addition  of  baptism  makes  this  no  more 
sure;  nor  does  its  absence  affect  the  result.  As  many  as 
receive  Christ, — As  many  as  believe  on  his  name,  to  them 
it  is  given  to  be  the  sons  of  God. 


390  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.  [Paut  XIII. 

It  is  evident  that  the  record  of  the  interview  with 
Nicodemus,  all  of  which  may  be  read  in  two  or  three  min- 
utes, is  a  mere  abstract  of  leading  points  of  our  Savior's 
discourse.  The  intent  of  the  words  in  question  may  be 
thus  expressed.  "  You  do  not  understand  how  a  man  can 
be  born  again.  But  you  are  familiar  with  the  rite  of  bai> 
tism,  and  you  are  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures  of  the 
prophets,  and  the  interpretation  which  they  give  to  that 
rite  as  a  symbol  of  the  renewing  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
It  is  that  of  which  I  speak.  Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water,  even  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  true  water  of 
life,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Section  LXXXIII.— ''27ie  Washing  of  Water  by  the  W<yrd" 

To  the  Ephesians,  Paul  thus  writes.  Eph.  v,  25-27. 
*' Husbands  love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the 
church  and  gave  himself  for  it;  that  he  might  sanctify 
and  cleanse  it  Avith  the  washing  of  water  by  the  word ; 
that  he  might  present  it  to  himself,  a  glorious  church,  not 
having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  auy  such  thing ;  but  that  it 
should  be  holy  and  without  blemish."  It  is  asserted  that 
here  baptism  with  water,  and  its  effects  are  described. 
The  "washing  of  water"  is  the  baptism,  "the  word,"  is 
the  formula  of  the  ordinance  and  unblemished  holiness, 
the  effect.     But 

1.  The  subject  of  Paul's  discussion  is  the  relation  of 
husband  and  wife,  and  the  reference  to  the  church  is  inci- 
dental, and  by  reason  of  the  analogy  of  the  subjects.  The 
conception  which  runs  through  and  controls  the  passage  is 
that  of  a  bridal,  and  each  particular  of  the  language  is 
suggested  by  this  conception.  Thus,  in  the  phrase,  "a 
glorious  church,"  rather  "a  church  gloriously  adorned" 
(compare  Luke  vii,  25,  "gorgeously  apparelled,")  the  apos- 
tle seems  to  have  had  in  his  mind  (Psa.  xlv,  3), — "The 
king's  daughter  is  all  glorious,  within ;  her  clothing  is  of 
wrought  gold."     So,  the   washing   of  water  is  expressly 


Src.  lxxxiii.]  washing  of  water  by  the  word.    391 

stated  to  be  in  order  to  liis  preseutiug  lier  to  himself  "not 
having-  spot  or  wrinkle."  Tiie  immediate  reference,  there- 
fore, of  the  laugnage  is  to  the  washing  and  decking  of  the 
bride,  before  marriage;  and  the  original  of  the  whole  con- 
ception is  to  be  found  in  Ezekiel  xvi,  9-14.  "Then  washed 
I  thee  with  water;  yea,  I  thoroughly  washed  away  thy 
blood  from  thee,  and  I  anointed  thee  with  oil.  I  clothed 
thee  also  with  broidered  Avork,  and  shod  thee  with  badger's 
skin,  and  I  girded  thee  about  with  fine  linen,  and  I  cov- 
ered thee  with  silk.  I  decked  thee  also  with  ornaments, 
and  I  put  bracelets  on  thy  hands  and  a  chain  on  thy  neck." 
It  will  hardly  be  pretended  that  in  this  language  of 
the  prophet,  the  washing  with  water  implies  any  mixture 
of  the  natural  element  with  that  process  of  grace  which  is 
there  described.  And  that  the  prophet  and  the  apostle 
refer  to  the  same  thing  is  manifest.  There  is  no  direct 
allusion  in  the  passage  to  ritual  baptism.  The  water  is 
the  familiar  metaphor  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  washing  is  the 
expression  for  his  renewing  and  sanctifying  influences  on 
the  soul. 

2.  The  assertion  that  (rema)  "the  word,"  here  means 
the  formula  of  baptism,  is  an  assumption,  w^holly  indefen- 
sible. In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  formula  of  baptism 
ordained  by  Jesus,  or  recognized  or  used  by  the  sacred 
writers.  Of  this,  the  evidence  w^ill  hereafter  appear. 
Moreover,  in  the  New  Testament,  and  especially  in  the 
writings  of  Paul,  the  word  in  question,  rema,  is  invariably 
used  in  the  sense  of  the  testimonies, — the  doctrines, — the 
word  of  God, — the  gospel.  Thus,  the  angel  said  to  the 
apostles, — "  Go,  stand  and  speak  in  the  temple,  to  the  peo- 
ple, all  (ta  reiaata)  the  words  of  this  life." — Acts  v,  20. 
Peter  tells  the  house  of  Cornelius, — "  That  word  (rema) 
ye  know  .  .  .  how  God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power,"  etc. — lb.  x,  37,  38. 
Paul,  in  this  very  same  epistle,  tells  the  Ephesians  (vi,  17) 
that  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit"   "is  the  word  (rema)  of 


392  BAPTISMAL  REGENERATION.  [Part  XIII. 

God."  And  Peter  declares  that  "tlie  imrd  (rema)  of  the 
Lord  endureth  forever ;  and  this  is  the  word  (rerna)  -which 
by  the  gospel  is  preached  unto  you." — 1  Peter  i,  25.  No 
word  in  the  Scriptures  is  of  a  more  unequivocal  meaning 
than  this. 

3.  The  interpretation  of  rema  as  meaning  the  baptismal 
formula,  is  a  recognition  of  the  unquestionable  fact  that 
"  the  word"  is  made  by  the  apostle  the  instrumental  cause 
of  the  sanctifying.  Literally  translated  the  passage  reads, — 
"  That  he  might  sanctify  it, — having  purified  it  by  the 
washing  of  water, — by  the  word."  Thus,  the  word  is  the 
instrument  of  the  sanctifying,  and  the  parenthetic  clause 
states  the  figure  by  which  the  analogy  of  the  bride  is  sus- 
tained. The  sanctifying  and  the  purifying  are  the  same 
spiritual  phenomenon,  the  one  phrase  being  conformed  to 
the  idea  of  the  church,  the  other  to  that  of  the  bride. 
And,  whether  the  common  English  version  be  accepted,  or 
the  construction  of  the  original  be  literally  followed,  as 
above,  the  result  remains  the  same,  that  "the  word"  is 
distinctly  stated  to  be  the  instrument  of  the  process  de- 
scribed by  the  two  words,  "sanctify"  and  "cleanse."  In 
what  sense  the  word  is  sanctifying,  let  Jesus  testify.  "  The 
words  (ta  remata)  that  I  speak  unto  you"  (literally,  "that 
I  have  spoken  unto  you,"  that  is,  in  his  preceding  dis- 
course), "  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life."— John  vi,  63. 
"Now  ye  are  clean,  through  (tou  logon)  the  word  that  I 
have  spoken  unto  you.— lb.  xv,  3.  "Sanctify  them  through 
thy  truth,  thy  word  (logos)  is  truth.  .  .  .  And  for  their 
sakes  I  sanctify  myself,  that  they  also  may  be  sanctified 
through  the  truth."— lb.  xvii,  17,  19.  "  Chosen  unto  sal- 
vation, through  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of 
the  truth."— 2  Thes.  ii,  13.  The  word  is  the  means  and 
the  Spirit  the  eflScieut  author  of  grace. 


Skc.  LXXXIV.]  ritual  la  IV  NOT  REPEALED.  393 


Part  XIV. 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  CPIURCH. 

Section  LXXXIV. — The  Bitual  Law  was  not  Repealed. 

IN  the  entrance  of  the  church  upon  her  new  commission, 
her  constitution  was  unchanged.  But  the  ordinances 
of  testimony  with  which  she  was  entrusted  received  an  essen- 
tial modification.  The  nature  and  the  manner  of  this  were 
alike  remarkable ;  and  as  the  subject  has  not  received  the 
attention  due  to  its  importance,  it  requires  here  the  more 
careful  consideration.  In  the  course  thereof,  it  will  appear 
that  the  Hebrew  Christian  church  remained  with  its  insti- 
tutions all  unaltered,  as  they  were  received  from  Moses, 
and  the  ceremonial  law  in  full  authority  and  operation, 
down  to  the  close  of  the  New  Testament  canon.  But  the 
Gentile  element,  which  was  by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
gathered  in  and  incorporated  with  the  church,  was,  by  ex- 
press statute,  exempted  from  the  obligation  of  that  law. 

1.  The  Lord  Jesus  was  "  a  minister  of  the  circumcision 
for  the  truth  of  God,  to  confirm  the  promises  made  unto 
the  fathers;  and  that  the  Gentiles  might  glorify  God  for 
his  mercy." — Rum.  xv,  8,  9.  He  lived  and  died  in  the 
full  communion  of  the  church  of  Israel,  in  so  far  as  his  own 
action  or  will  was  concerned ;  although  he  was  in  the  end 
excommunicated  and  betrayed  by  the  rulers  of  that  church. 
He  assured  his  disciples  that  he  came  not  to  destroy  the 
law  but  to  fulfill.  (Matt,  v,  17.)  Neither  by  example 
nor  by  precept  did  he  set  aside  or  abrogate  it ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  having  himself  obeyed  every  precept  and  observed 
every  ordinance,  he  left  it,  at  his  ascension,  in  full  and  un- 
impaired authority. 


394  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

2.  The  apostles  and  the  church  over  which  they  pre- 
sided io  Jerusalem  were  not  only  zealous  in  their  observ- 
ance of  the  law ;  but  were  not  altogether  exempt  from  the 
influence  of  some  of  the  most  obnoxious  of  the  traditions 
of  the  elders.  Of  this,  the  case  of  Peter's  visit  to  the  house 
of  Cornelius  presents  a  signal  illustration.  To  prepare 
him  to  listen  to  the  message  from  the  Roman  centurion,  a 
miraculous  vision  was  shown  him.  And,  when  the  disciples 
in  Jerusalem  heard  of  the  matter,  they  accused  him,  for 
having  gone  in  to  men  uncircumcised  and  eaten  with  them. 
And  yet  there  was  not  a  syllable  in  the  laws  of  Moses  to 
justify  such  extreme  reserve.  It  was  wholly  based  upon 
the  traditions  of  the  elders.  So  powerful  and  prevalent 
was  the  sentiment  among  Jewish  Christians,  on  this  sub- 
ject, that  it  subsequently  became  the  occasion  of  a  very 
singular  dereliction  on  the  part  of  Peter.  Says  Paul, — 
"When  Peter  was  come  to  Autioch,  I  withstood  him  to 
the  face,  because  he  was  to  be  blamed.  For  before  that 
certain  came  from  James,  he  did  eat  with  the  Gentiles ;  but 
when  they  were  come,  he  w^ithdrew,  and  separated  himself, 
fearing  them  which  were  of  the  circumcision.  And  the 
other  Jews  dissembled  likewise  with  him,  insomuch  that 
Barnabas  also  was  carried  away  with  their  dissimulation." — 
Gal.  ii,  11-13.  Respecting  this  it  is  not  enough  to  say 
that  Peter  and  the  Judaizers  were  all  wrong.  True.  But 
such  a  state  of  things  could  not  have  existed,  had  the 
church  or  the  apostles  understood  the  law  of  Moses  to  be, 
in  any  manner,  abrogated  or  set  aside. 

3.  The  calling  and  decree  of  the  council  of  Jerusalem 
are  very  important  facts,  as  bearing  on  this  subject.  The 
occasion  of  the  council  was  the  attempt  of  Judaizing  teach- 
ers to  impose  circumcision  and  the  ritual  law  upon  the 
Gentile  converts.  (Acts  xv,  1-5.)  Hereupon,  "  the  apos- 
tles and  elders  came  together  to  consider  of  this  matter." — 
V.  6.  Here,  at  once,  it  is  impossible  that  such  a  question 
could  have  arisen,  had  the  abrogation  of  the  Mosaic  law 


Sec.  LXXXIV.]   RITUAL  LAW  NOT  REPEALED.  395 

beeu  a  fact  known  to  the  church  iu  Jerusalem ;  and  assur- 
edly in  that  case,  there  would  have  been  no  room  for  the 
apostles  and  elders  to  "  consider"  such  a  question,  the  very 
raising  of  which  would  have  been  the  erection  of  a  standard 
of  open  rebellion  against  Christ.  The  discussions  and  de- 
cree of  the  council  were  equally  conclusive.  No  doubt  was 
suggested,  in  any  quarter  as  to  the  continued  authority  of 
the  law.  No  one  hinted  at  the  idea  of  its  repeal.  The  dis- 
cussion turned  entirely  on  the  privilege  of  the  Gentiles  to 
be  s^iecially  exempt  from  its  requirements.  The  evidence 
of  such  exemption  was  found  in  the  fact  that  God  had,  in 
a  special  manner,  shown  his  acceptance  of  them,  outside 
the  law.  Upon  this  point,  the  whole  issue  turned  ;  and  the 
proof  respecting  it  was  formally  given  by  Peter,  in  a  re- 
hearsal of  the  facts  concerning  the  house  of  Cornelius  (vs. 
7,  8);  and  by  Paul  and  Barnabas,  in  an  account  of  "the 
miracles  and  wonders  which  God  had  wrought  among  the 
Gentiles  by  them." — vs.  12.  Moreover,  the  conclusion 
reached  (vs.  14-19),  and  the  decree  issued,  had  express 
relation,  to  the  Gentiles,  only,  and  not  to  the  whole  body 
of  the  church.  In  a  word,  it  was  a  decree  recognizing  and 
proclaiming  the  exemption  of  the  Gentiles  from  the  obliga- 
tion of  the  existing  law. — "The  apostles  and  elders  and 
brethren  send  greeting  unto  the  brethren  which  are  of  the 
Gentiles,  iu  Antioch,  and  Syria,  and  Cilicia.  Forasmuch 
as  we  have  heard,  that  certain  which  went  out  from  us, 
have  troubled  you  with  words,  subverting  your  souls,  say- 
ing. Ye  must  be  circumcised  awd  keep  the  law,  to  Avhom 
we  gave  no  such  commandment.  ...  It  seemed  good  to 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  to  lay  upon  you  no  greater 
burden  than  these  necessary  things ;  that  ye  abstain  from 
meats  offered  to  idols,  and  from  blood,  and  from  things 
strangled,  and  from  fornication  ;  from  which,  if  ye  keep 
yourselves  ye  shall  do  well.  Fare  ye  well." — vs.  23-29. 
Such  is  the  only  rule  or  decree  found  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, respecting  the  ritual  law.     It  exempts  the  Gentiles 


396  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

from  its  obligations;  but  otherwise  leaves  it  iu  unimpaired 
authority. 

4.  With  this  view,  the  whole  subsequent  history  of  the 
apostolic  church  agrees.  Paul  was  the  great  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles.  He  was  prompt  and  decided  in  asserting  and 
vindicating  their  liberty  from  the  obligations  of  the  law ; 
but  was  himself  conscientious  ni  the  observance  of  all  its 
requirements,  and  fully  recognized  their  obligation  upon 
himself  and  his  brethren  of  Israel.  These  facts  were 
brought  into  question,  and  publicly  established  in  the  most 
signal  manner.  When  he  came  to  Jerusalem  after  his 
third  missionary  tour,  in  an  interview  with  James  and  the 
elders  of  the  church,  they  said  to  him  "  Thou  seest,  brother, 
how  many  thousands  (ynuriades,  how  many  tens  of  thou- 
sands,) of  Jews  there  are  which  believe;  and  they  are  all 
zealous  of  the  law.  And  they  are  informed  of  thee  that 
thou  teachest  all  the  Jews  which  are  among  the  Gentiles 
to  forsake  Moses,  saying  that  they  ought  not  to  circumcise 
their  children,  neither  to  walk  after  the  customs.  What 
is  it  therefore  ?  The  multitude  must  needs  come  together ; 
for  they  will  hear  that  thou  art  come.  Do,  therefore,  this 
that  we  say  to  thee.  We  have  four  men  which  have  a 
vow  on  them.  Them  take  and  purify  thyself  with  them, 
and  be  at  charges  with  them,  that  they  may  shave  their 
heads :  and  all  may  know  that  those  things  whereof  they 
have  been  informed  concerning  thee  are  nothing,  but  that 
thou  thyself  also  walkest  orderly  and  keepest  the  law.  As 
touching  the  Gentiles  which  believe,  we  have  written  and 
concluded  that  they  observe  no  such  thing,  save  only  that 
they  keep  themselves  from  things  offered  to  idols,  and  from 
blood,  and  from  strangled,  and  from  fornication." — Acts 
xxi,  20-25.  To  this  suggestion  Paul  agreed,  and  was  iu 
the  temple  in  fulfillment  of  it,  awaiting  the  time  when 
"  an  offering  should  be  offered  for  every  one  of  them," 
when  a  tumult  was  raised  by  the  unbelieving  Jews,  and 
his  imprisonment  took  place,  wdiich  resulted  in  his  being 


Sec.  LXXXIV.]  RITUAL  LAW  NOT  REPEALED.  397 

sent,  in  chains,  to  Cesarea,  and  to  Rome.  (Acts  xxi, 
26,  27.) 

Respecting  this  matter,  the  first  point  to  be  noticed  is 
the  fact  that  the  myriads  of  Jewish  Christians  were  unan- 
imous.— They  "  were  all  zealous  of  the  law."  The  imagi- 
nation of  Conybeare  and  Howson  and  others  that  the  pro- 
ceeding was  the  work  of  a  Judaizing  faction  and  was 
consented  to  for  the  sake  of  peace,  is  not  only  without 
■warrant  in  the  record,  but  is  in  contradiction  to  its  whole 
tenor,  and  spirit.  In  fact  the  entire  conception  of  the  first 
named  writers  on  the  subject  is  characterized  by  a  strained 
and  perverse  ingenuity,  rather  than  by  the  simplicity  of  a 
sound  criticism.  And  yet  they  have  to  admit  that  the  law 
continued  in  unimpaired  authority  over  all  Jewish  believ- 
ers. Why  then  labor  to  stigmatize  the  church  in  Jerusa- 
lem or  an  imaginary  faction  therein  for  being  zealous  in 
its  maintenance? 

The  purpose  and  intent  of  this  transaction  as  expressly 
avowed  by  James  and  the  elders  was  to  draw  a  broad  line 
of  distinction  between  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  relation  to  the 
law.  In  their  very  suggestion  to  Paul,  they  refer  to  the 
former  council  and  decree. — "As  touching  the  Gentiles 
which  believe,  we  have  written  and  concluded  that  they 
observe  no  such  thing."  Thus,  avowedly,  the  course  pro- 
posed was  designed  to  interpret  that  decree,  and  to  limit 
its  purview  to  the  Gentiles.  It  was,  moreover,  a  trans- 
action taking  2'>lace  in  circumstances  which  imparted  to  it 
the  very  highest  moment.  It  was  in  Jerusalem,  the  center 
whence  Jesus  had  commanded  his  apostles  that  the  gospel 
should  go  forth.  They  were  to  preach  in  all  the  world, 
*' beginning  at  Jerusalem."  There,  consequently  the  first 
labors  of  the  twelve  were  expended ;  there,  some  of  them 
were  almost  always  fi)und ;  and  to  that  church  the  Gentile 
churches  looked  as  the  fountain  of  their  faith  and  authori- 
tative exponent  to  them  of  the  will  of  Christ.  Such  had 
been  the  prophetic  anticipation  long  before  respecting  this 


398  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH,  [Part  XIV. 

very  time. — "  Out  of  Ziou  shall  go  forth  the  law ;  and  the 
word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." — Isa.  ii,  3.  Already 
had  that  church  sent  forth  the  law  concerning  the  relation 
of  the  Gentiles  to  the  Mosaic  institutions.  And  now  the 
question  to  be  decided  was  equally  important,  and  the 
action  proposed,  although  different  in  form,  was  equally 
responsible  and  decisive.  A  decree  of  confirmation  of  the 
law,  which  had  stood  unimpeached  for  fifteen  centuries 
would  have  been  inappropriate  and  calculated  rather  to 
awaken  doubts  than  to  strengthen  conviction.  The  course 
proposed  and  adopted  was  more  appropriate  and  efifective. 
Paul  was  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  the  recognized 
and  world-renowned  champion,  not  only  of  the  freedom  of 
the  Gentiles,  but  of  the  liberty  of  the  gospel,  the  liberty 
of  all  Christ's  people.  The  spectacle,  therefore,  of  this 
great  apostle,  performing  Levitical  rites  of  purifying  and 
publicly  appearing  at  the  temple,  in  order  to  the  offering 
of  sacrifices,  in  completion  of  a  Nazarite  vow,  would  con- 
stitute a  most  decisive  demonstration  and  announcement 
of  the  continued  obligation  of  the  law,  over  all  Israel.  It 
was  not  a  case,  therefore,  in  which  a  privilege  might  be 
waived  for  the  sake  of  peace.  Submission  to  these  pro- 
posals, if  they  were  unwarranted,  would  have  been  treason, 
at  once  to  Christ  and  to  the  liberties  of  the  apostle's  own 
people.  How  likely  it  was  that  Paul,  having  already  vindi- 
cated with  firmness  and  success  the  freedom  of  the  Gentiles 
from  the  bondage  of  the  law,  should  have  conspired  to 
betray  the  liberties  of  his  own  beloved  Israel,  on  the  very 
same  point,  in  the  interest  of  a  time-serving  policy,  may 
be  judged  from  his  whole  history  and  writings.  The  alter- 
native presented  by  the  facts  is  of  itself  conclusive.  Either 
the  law  remained  in  unimpaired  authority,  over  Israel, — 
or,  Paul  and  James,  the  elders,  and  all  the  myriads  of  be- 
lieving Jews,  were  united,  without  dissent  or  exception,  in 
a  conspiracy  to  repudiate  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  re-establish  a  law  repealed  by  him. 


Sec.  LXXXIV.]  RITUAL  LAW  NOT  REPEALED.  399 

5.  The  action  of  Paul  upon  this  occasion  was  not  an 
instance  of  mere  occasional  conformity,  but  was  expressly 
designed  by  the  apostle  as  a  testimony  to  the  Jews  that 
he  did  not  repudiate  the  law,  but  "walked  orderly  and 
kept  it."  And  an  examination  of  his  manner  of  life  and 
ministry  will  show  that  this  testimony  was  true, — that  he 
was  constant  and  conscientious  in  his  own  observance  of  the 
law,  and  recognition  of  its  authority.  Wherever  he  went, 
his  first  recourse  was  to  the  worshiping  assemblies  of  the 
Jews,  to  which  he  joined  himself  as  one  of  them,  with- 
drawing only  when  rejected  from  their  company.  (Acts 
xvii,  2;  xix,  8,  9,  etc.)  One  incident  in  the  story  of  his 
ministry  affords  us  a  glimpse  into  the  inner  chamber  of 
his  sentiments  and  the  spirit  of  his  personal  life,  as  toward 
the  law.  On  his  second  missionary  tour,  leaving  Corinth, 
he  sailed  into  Syria,  "and  with  him  Priscilla  and  Aquila; 
having  shorn  his  head  in  Cenchrea:  for  he  had  a  vow." — 
Acts  xviii,  18.  Some  expositors  have  explained  this  vow 
as  taken  by  Aquila  and  not  by  Paul.  Olshausen,  who, 
however,  rejects  this  theory,  says  that  "those  learned  men 
who  deny  the  reference  of  the  words  to  Paul,  suppose  that 
the  statement  can  not  be  applied  to  him,  because  it  would 
have  been  inconsistent  with  his  principles  regarding  the 
abrogation  of  the  ceremonial  law  of  Moses,  to  have  taken 
upon  him  a  vow."  Conybeare  and  Howson,  who  hesitate 
between  the  two  views,  say  that  "the  difficulty  lies  not  so 
much  in  supposing  that  Paul  took  a  Jewish  vow  (see  Acts 
xxi,  26)  as  in  sujiposing  that  he  made  himself  conspicuous 
for  Jewish  peculiarities  while  he  was  forming  a  mixed 
church  at  Corintli."  But  all  admit  that  the  Greek  in  this 
place  points  as  distinctly  to  Paul  as  does  the  common 
English  version.  We  already  know  enough,  certainly,  to 
caution  us  against  forcing  an  interpretation,  on  the  ground 
that  the  ceremonial  law  was  abrogated.  We  have  seen 
tlie  apostle  take  upon  him  such  a  vow,  in  the  most  public 
and  demonstrative  manner.    And,  as  to  the  difficulty  made 


400  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 


by  Conybeare  and  Howson,  it  is  founded  in  a 
mistake  of  the  facts.  The  vow  may  have  been  made  in 
Corinth.  Of  that  we  know  nothing.  But  the  shaving  of 
his  head,  to  which  alone  the  suggestion  as  to  "making 
himself  conspicuous"  could  apply,  took  place  in  Cenchrea, 
after  leaving  Corinth  and  when  in  the  act  of  sailing  for 
Syria.  80  that  the  facts  as  recorded  look  rather  to  the 
avoidance  of  notoriety  than  seeking  it.  So  far  as  the 
record  indicates,  the  vow  being  connected  with  Paul's  own 
private  religious  life,  was  only  known  to  his  j^ersonal  attend- 
ants, in  connection  with  the  fact  of  his  shaving  his  head, 
and  the  diligence  with  which  he  sought  to  reach  Jerusalem 
in  time  for  the  feast.  (Vs.  21,  22.)  This  was  no  doubt 
connected  with  the  fulfillment  of  his  vow,  which  of  neces- 
sity required  offerings  at  the  temple.  It  thus  appears  that 
not  only  did  the  apostle  maintain  an  outward  and  formal 
observance  of  the  law ;  but  that  his  private  devotional  life 
and  experience  took  its  form  from  the  ordinances  of  that 
law,  and  found  expression  in  them ;  a  fact  utterly  irrecon- 
cilable, as  was  his  whole  life  and  teachings,  with  the  assump- 
tion that  he  looked  upon  them  as  being  abrogated  or 
obsolete. 

On  this  and  other  occasions,  there  are  intimations  that 
as  often  as  was  consistent  with  the  duties  of  his  ministry, 
he  was  accustomed  to  resort  to  Jerusalem,  in  observance 
of  the  annual  feasts,  and  for  the  purpose  of  making  offer- 
ings at  the  temple.  "  I  came,"  says  he  to  Felix,  "  to  bring 
alms  to  my  nation,  and  offerings.  Whereupon  certain  Jews 
from  Asia  found  me  'purified  in  the  temple." — Acts  xxiv," 
17,  18;  comp.  xx,  16. 

Another  important  fact  appears  in  the  record.  With 
a  significant  discrimination,  Paul  circumcised  Timothy  the 
son  of  a  Jewess;  although,  his  father  being  a  Greek,  he 
might  have  claimed  exemption  as  a  Gentile  (Acts  xvi, 
1-3)  ;  "  But,  neither  Titus,  who  was  with  me,  being  a 
Greek  was  compelled  to  be  circumcised;  and  that  because 


Sec.  LXXXIV.]  RITUAL  LAW  NOT  REPEALED.  401 

of  false  brethren,  unawares  brought  in,  who  came  in  privily 
to  spy  out  our  liberty  Avhich  we  have  in  Christ  Jesus,  that 
they  might  bring  us  into  bondage:  to  whom  we  gave 
place,  by  subjection,  no,  not  for  an  hour;  that  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  might  continue  with  you." — Gal.  ii,  3-5. 
Thus,  in  Timothy  and  Titus,  Paul's  favorite  disciples  and 
constant  attendants  and  helpers  in  his  later  "ministry,  he 
carried  with  him  exemplars  and  representatives  of  the  op- 
posite relations  to  the  law,  which  he  recognized  in  the 
Jews  and  the  Gentiles. 

Moreover  during  his  imprisonment,  in  reply  to  the 
charge  of  being  a  contemner  of  the  law,  the  apostle  repeat- 
adly  and  unqualifiedly  asserted  that  he  had  been  constant 
and  faithful  in  observance  of  it.  In  the  presence  of  the 
council  of  Israel,  he  announced  himself  a  Pharisee.  Of 
the  same  thing  he  writes  to  the  Philippians,  that  he  had 
"no  confidence  in  the  flesh.  Though  I  might  also  have 
confidence  in  the  flesh.  If  any  other  man  thinketh  that 
he  hath  whereof  he  might  trust  in  the  flesh,  I  more:  Cir- 
cumcised the  eighth  day,  of  the  stock  of  Israel,  of  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews ;  as  touching 
the  law,  a  Pharisee;  concerning  zeal,  persecuting  the 
church;  touching  the  righteousness  which  is  in  the  law 
blameless." — Phil,  iii,  3-G.  It  is  true  that  the  description 
here  given  by  the  apostle  has  especial  reference  to  the  past 
time  of  his  unconverted  zeal.  But  it  is  also  true,  that 
his  introductory  comparison  with  others,  as  to  grounds  of 
self-righteous  confidence,  is  in  the  present  tense,  and  indi- 
cates a  conscious  fidelity  to  the  law  down  to  the  time  of  his 
writing.  When  accused  before  Festus,  "he  answered  for 
himself, — Neither  against  ilie  law  of  the  Jews,  neither  against 
the  temple,  nor  yet  against  Csesar,  have  I  offended  any 
thing  at  all." — Acts  xxv,  8.  And  when  at  last  he  was 
taken  to  Rome,  he  there  called  the  chief  of  the  Jews  to- 
gether, and  said  to  them,  "Men  and  brethren,  though  I 
have  committed  nothing  against  the  people  or  customs  of  our 

34 


402  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

fathers,  yet  was  I  delivered  prisoner  from  Jerusalem  into 
the  hands  of  the  Romans." — Acts  xxviii,  17. 

Is  it  asked,  how  all  this  is  to  be  reconciled  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  epistle  to  the  Galatiaus,  and  other  testi- 
monies of  Paul  respecting  circumcision  and  the  law  ?  I 
answer, — Paul  nowhere  utters  a  syllable  in  disapproval  of 
the  observance  of  the  law  by  the  Jews,  as  a  rule  of  life. 
AVhat  he  assails  is,  a  trusting  in  it,  for  themselves,  or  im- 
posing it  on  others,  as  a  rule  of  righteousness  unto  salva- 
tion. While  he  proclaimed  salvation  by  grace,  through 
faith  alone,  without  the  works  of  the  law,  moral  or  ritual, 
he  with  perfect  consistency  not  only  himself  kept  the  law, 
but  enjoined  it  on  his  brethren  after  the  flesh.  His  prin- 
ciple of  action  in  this  respect,  he  states  explicitly,  "Is  any 
man  called,  being  circumcised?  Let  him  not  become  un- 
circumcised.  Is  any  called  in  uncircumcisiou  ?  Let  him 
not  be  circumcised.  Circumcision  is  nothing,  and  uncir- 
cumcisiou is  nothing,  but  the  Tceeping  of  the  commandments  of 
God.  Let  every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein 
he  was  called.  Art  thou  called  being  a  servant  ?  care  not 
for  it ;  but  if  thou  mayest  be  made  free  use  it  rather." — 1 
Cor.  vii,  18-21.  Thus  distinctly  does  Paul  recognize  cir- 
cumcision as  still  being,  to  the  Jews,  a  commandment  of 
God ;  as  exemption  from  it  was  to  the  Gentiles.  And  it 
need  scarcely  be  said,  that  circumcision  here  stands  for  the 
whole  law.  It  is  to  be  considered,  moreover,  that  this  lan- 
guage of  Paul  is  not  a  mere  recognition  of  circumcision  as 
still  existing  by  the  providence  of  God ;  but  it  is  an  ex- 
press and  unreserved  re-enforcement  of  the  law,  by  his 
whole  authority,  as  an  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ, — a  re- 
enforcement  broad  and  unlimited  as  to  time  or  circum- 
stances as  was  the  law  itself.  This  unlimited  character  of 
the  apostle's  decree,  is  emphasized  and  strengthened  by  the 
exception  which  he  appends  to  the  general  form  of  his 
enunciation  ; — "  Let  every  man  abide  in  the  calling  wherein 
he  Avas  called."     Lest  any  should  interpret  this  rule  as  de- 


Sec.  LXXXlY.]/i!/'rC/AL  LA  IV  NOT  REPEALED.  403 

signed  to  apply  to  cases  outside  the  theme  iu  hand,  he 
adds, — "Art  thou  called  being  a  servant?  Care  not  for 
it ;  but  if  thou  niayest  be  made  free,  use  it  rather."  So  far 
from  moderating  or  weakening  the  force  of  the  apostle's 
previous  language,  this  adds  greatly  to  it;  showing  as  it 
does,  that  the  question  of  exceptions  and  limitations  was 
present  to  his  mind.  Then  was  the  time,  if  ever,  for  him 
to  have  intimated  the  doing  away  of  the  ritual  law ;  or,  at 
least,  to  so  guard  his  language  as  to  harmonize  it  with  its 
ultimate  abrogation,  had  such  been  the  j^urpose  of  God. 
The  fact,  therefore,  that  neither  here  nor  elsewhere  does  he 
allude  to  such  a  jjurpose,  but  on  the  contrary  gives  the 
above  unreserved  injunction  as  a  permanent  part  of  the 
written  word  of  God,  leaves  us  but  one  alternative, — to 
reject  the  authority  of  Paul,  as  an  inspired  apostle,  or  to 
recognize  circumcision  and  the  law  as  being,  to  the  Jew, 
the  commandment  of  God,  unrepealed. 

If,  we  further  examine  the  epistles,  we  shall  find  that 
while  they  all  are  unanimous  in  repudiating  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  law ;  they  do  not,  anywhere  assert  or  imply  its 
repeal,  as  toward  Israel.  It  will  moreover  be  found  that 
any  inference  as  to  the  abrogation  of  the  law,  which  may 
be  deduced  from  the  doctrine  of  grace,  as  taught  by  all  the 
apostles,  applies  as  directly  to  the  moral  as  to  the  ritual 
code ;  both  of  which  are  by  them  commonly  comprehended 
together  under  the  designation  of,  "  the  law,"  Upon  their 
principles,  reliance  on  a  righteousness  of  works  is  just  as 
much  to  be  reprobated  in  the  one  form  as  in  the  other ;  and 
the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace  is  as  consistent  with  the 
continued  obligation  and  observance  of  the  ritual,  as,  of 
the  moral  law. 

6.  It  is  no  slight  argument  in  proof  of  the  view  here 
presented,  that  it  alone  exhibits  the  apostolic  history  as 
consistent  and  harmonious,  based  upon  definite  and  inflex- 
ible principles,  unanimously  recognized  and  obeyed  by  the 
apostles  and  elders.     That  such  must  have  been  the  case, 


404  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV- 

is  involved  in  the  manner  in  -vvhicli  the  apostles  ay  ere  ap- 
pointed to  preside  over  the  transition  period  in  the  history 
of  the  church,  and  the  Spirit  given  for  their  guidance 
therein.  Many  writers  have  assumed  without  the  trouble 
of  proof,  that  the  ritual  law  could  not  any  longer  possess 
legitimate  authority — that  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  his 
one  offering  of  himself,  of  necessity,  superseded  and  set 
it  aside.  They  are,  at  once,  involved  in  the  necessity  of 
treating  the  whole  history  of  the  aj^ostolic  church  as 
one  of  compromising  policies  and  timeserving  expedients. 
We  are  told  of  the  extreme  Judaism  of  James,  the 
more  moderate  conservatism  of  Peter,  and  the  free  evan- 
gelical spirit  of  Paul.  Their  principles  and  parties  are 
represented  as  maintaining  a  continual  struggle,  and  the 
various  facts  of  the  history  are  explained  as  the  prevalence 
of  one  or  the  other  set  of  opinions,  or  the  result  of  com- 
promise. On  the  contrary,  there  is  not  a  trace  of  the  least 
diversity  of  sentiment  on  these  questions  between  the  parties 
named,  or  any  of  the  apostles  or  leaders  of  the  church. 
Some  "false  brethren,  unawares  brought  in"  (Gal.  ii,  4), 
attempted  to  create  division ;  but  only  developed  harmony. 
The  decree  of  the  council  of  Jerusalem  was  no  compromise, 
but  the  expression  of  unanimous  sentiments  ('omothumadon, 
'Mvith  one  heart," — Acts  xv,  25),  and  was,  moreover,  dic- 
tated by  the  Holy  Spirit.  ' '  It  seemed  good  to  Uie  Holy 
Ghost  and  to  us."  The  so-called  partisans  of  James,  the 
Judaizing  zealots,  who  troubled  Paul's  ministry,  were  ex- 
pressly repudiated  in  that  decree,  which  was  moved  in  the 
council  by  Peter  and  James,  and  apparently  drafted  by 
the  hand  of  the  latter.*  The  reason  why  the  labors  of 
James  and  Peter  were  mainly  confined  to  the  circumcision 
in  Judea,  while  Paul  preached  among  the  far  off  Gentiles, 
was  precisely  the  same  in  both  cases, — the  will  of  Christ. 
Says  Paul, — "  When  they  saw  that  the  gospel  of  the  uncir- 

*The  ^'  Greeting  "  {Chairein)  Acts  xv,  23;  is  found  nowhere 
else  m  the  New  Testament,  save  in  James  i,  1. 


sbc.lxxxiv.]  ritual  la  w  not  repealed.  405 

cumcision  was  committed  unto  me,  as  the  gospel  of  the  cir- 
cumcisiou  was  unto  Peter ;  (for  He  that  wrought  effectually 
in  Peter  to  the  apostleship  of  the  circumcision,  the  same 
was  mighty  in  me  toward  the  Gentiles ;)  and  when  James, 
Cephas  and  John,  who  seemed  to  be  pillars,  perceived  the 
grace  that  was  given  unto  me,  they  gave  to  me  and  Barn- 
abas the  right  hands  of  fellowship ;  that  we  should  go  unto 
the  heathen,  and  they  unto  the  circumcision." — Gal.  ii, 
7-9.  No.  The  blood-bought  church  of  Christ,  w^as  not  left, 
at  this  critical  time,  to  the.  mercies  of  the  passions  and 
prejudices,  the  narrowness  and  factions  of  fallible  men.  It 
was  under  the  direction  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  prayer  "  that  they  all  may 
be  one,"  was  not  unheard,  nor  unanswered  of  the  Father ; 
and  the  promise  that  the  Spirit  should  guide  them  into  all 
truth  was  fulfilled. 

From  this  careful  survey,  it  appears,  that  the  New 
Testament  contains  no  evidence  of  the  abrogation  or  pass- 
ing away  of  the  ceremonial  law, — that  its  unimpaired 
authority  over  Israel  was  fully  and  universally  acknowledged 
and  asserted  by  the  apostles  and  the  churches  over  which 
they  presided ;  while  the  exemption  of  the.  Gentiles  from 
its  requirements  was  recognized  as  exceptional,  and  secured 
by  formal  consultation  and  decree ; — that  this  condition 
of  things  continued  unchanged  to  the  close  of  the  New 
Testament  canon ; — and  that  as  a  necessary  consequence, 
that  law  never  has  been  repealed ,  to  this  day.  As  once  before, 
during  the  seventy  years  of  the  Babylonian  captivity,  Israel 
was  providentially  precluded  from  its  observance,  so  at 
present,  it  is  one  of  the  most  afflictive  features  of  the 
divine  dealings  with  them,  that  the  law,  which  they  idc)l- 
ized  and  so  grievously  perverted,  still  binds  them ;  while 
the  destruction  of  the  temple,  the  disorganization  of  the 
nation  and  the  obliterating  of  the  priesthood  renders  its 
fulfillment  ])y  them  impossible. 


406  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

Section  LXXXV. —  Why  the  Gentiles  were  Exempt  from 
the  Law, 

The  exemption  of  the  Gentile  Christian  church  from 
the  authority  of  the  ceremonial  law  must  be  accounted  for 
upon  some  principle  which  will  harmonize  with  -all  the 
facts.  The  common  theory  assumes  it  to  be  of  the  very 
nature  of  a  type  to  perish  and  be  abrogated  by  its  realiza- 
tion in  the  antitype.  Thus",  it  is  supposed,  that  the  sacri- 
ficial system  of  necessity  expired  with  its  fulfillment  by 
Christ's  one  oiFering  of  himself.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
law  was  not  in  fact  abrogated,  but  continues  in  unimpaired 
authority  over  Israel.  Why,  then,  are  the  Gentiles  ex- 
empt from  its  obligations? 

The  reason  was  briefly  intimated  by  Peter.  *'  "Why 
tempt  ye  God,  to  put  a  yoke  upon  the  neck  of  the  disciples, 
which  neither  our  fathers  nor  we  were  able  to  bear;" — 
literally,  "  neither  (ischusamen)  were  strong  to  bear." — Acts 
XV,  10.  This  verb  means,  to  he  strong,  and  is  sometimes 
used  with  a  negative  particle,  as  here,  to  indicate  a  labor 
of  great  difiiculty,  not  amounting  to  an  impracticability. 
Thus,  in  John  xxi,  6,  it  is  said  of  the  net  of  fishes, — 
*'They  were  not  able"  (were  not  strong)  "to  draw  it,  for 
the  multitude  of  fishes."  And  yet,  immediately  after,  w'hen 
their  force  had  been  reduced  by  Peter  casting  himself  into 
the  sea  and  swimming  to  land,  they  came  ''dragging  the 
net  with  fishes,"  and  Peter  himself  drew  it  to  land.  (vs. 
8,  11.)  The  ritual  law  was  a  burdensome,  although  not  im- 
possible institution,  for  Israel,  when  dwelling  in  their  own 
land.  But,  as  a  system  of  worship  for  a  world -religion,  it 
was  unsuitable.  Essential  to  it  was  the  one  temple,  altar 
and  priest,  at  Jerusalem,  typical  of  the  one  sanctuary 
and  service  in  heaven.  Hither  must  all  males  repair 
statedly,  three  times  a  year,  and  both  men  and  women  upon 
many  special  occasions  beside,  of  a  personal  nature.  To  a 
population  of  four  or  five  millions,  dwelling  in  the  narrow 


Sec.  LXXXV.]    U7/Y  THE  GENTILES  EXEMPT.  407 

limits  of  Palestine, — a  territory  the  extreme  dimensions  of 
Avhicli  Avere  about  100  miles  by  150, — tbis  was  possible, 
altbough  burdensome.  But,  to  tbe  distant  millions  of  the 
"world's  inhabitants,  manifestly  it  would  have  been  utterly 
impracticable. 

Moreover,  to  the  race  at  large,  the  ceremonial  law  had 
already  fulfilled  its  most  important  and  essential  offices. 
Undoubtedly,  it  could  still  have  been  used  by  the  grace  of 
God,  as  it  had  been  for  ages  before,  as  a  mode  for  the 
effectual  transmission  and  dissemination  of  the  gospel  testi- 
mony, kept  in  unimpaired  purity  by  the  agency  of  un- 
changing forms.  Nor  is  the  fact  to  be  everlooked,  or 
lightly  regarded,  that  representations  to  the  eye  and  the 
physical  senses  have  a  peculiar  power  over  the  affections 
and  the  heart,  a  power  often  greater  and  more  influential 
than  any  appeal  to  the  intellect  through  the  organs  of  hear- 
ing. Had  such  been  the  will  of  God,  the  ritual  system 
was  certainly  susceptible  of  being  made  a  powerful  auxil- 
iary^  to  the  dissemination  of  the  gospel,  by  its  relation  to 
these  principles  of  man's  nature. 

But,  when  the  gospel  was  given  to  the  Gentiles,  the  sys- 
tem of  elementary  ideas  which  were  embodied  and  exhibited 
in  the  Mosaic  ceremonial  possessed  a  world-wide  diffusion. 
The  art  of  writing  had  been  developed  and  disseminated. 
The  Old  Testament  Scriptures  were  already  written  and 
widely  distributed,  and  the  gospels  and  epistles  were  soon 
to  follow.  Thus  the  cardinal  importance  of  the  ritual 
ordinances  as  a  mode  for  the  recording  and  perpetuation 
of  the  gospel  was  obsolete, — replaced  by  means  more  ap- 
propriate to  a  religion  now  destined  for  the  world.  And  the 
"  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,"  which  now 
accompanies  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  among  the  Gen- 
tiles, is  abundant  compensation  for  the  ritual  system,  as  an 
appeal  to  the  affections,  through  the  senses. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  the  discrimination,  in  the  be- 
ginning  made   between   Jew   and   Gentile   respecting   the 


408  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

ceremonial  law, — its  obligation  on  the  one,  and  the  ex- 
emption of  the  other, — was  neither  arbitrary  nor  unmeaning, 
but  alike  reasonable  and  susceptible  of  full  and  beautiful 
realization  in  practice.  It  implied  the  continuance  of 
Israel  as  a  priest-kingdom  among  the  nations,  maintaining 
at  Jerusalem,  as  a  standard  of  faith  to  the  world,  that  sys- 
tem of  rites  which  so  beautifully,  so  clearly  and  impres- 
sively set  forth  the  gospel  to  the  eyes  and  senses  of  men ; 
whilst,  the  world  over,  the  same  gospel  should  have  been 
published,  by  the  written  and  printed  word,  by  the  living 
voice,  and  by  the  simple  ritual  of  Gentile  Christianity, 
practicable  everywhere.  But  such  was  not  the  purpose 
of  God.  At  the  beginning,  our  first  parents  by  sin  for- 
feited the  Eden  which  might  have  been  theirs.  So,  Israel 
forfeited  her  offered  privilege.  Jerusalem  was  destroyed, 
and  the  gospel  and  the  church  were  given  to  the  Gentiles, — 
*'  until  the  fullness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in ;  and  so  all 
Israel  shall  be  saved." — Rom.  xi,  25,  26. 

Section  LXXXVI. — T/ie  Christian  Passover. 

To  the  church  among  the  Gentiles,  two  simple  ordi- 
nances remain,  an  inheritance  from  the  ancient  church, — a 
memorial  and  link  of  connection  and  identity  between  the 
two  ;  and  a  continuous  sealing  of  the  same  covenant,  trans- 
mitted from  the  one  to  the  other.  That  the  Supper  is  thus 
derived  from  the  paschal  feast,  can  not  be  denied.  As  early 
as  Jacob's  prophecy  of  Shiloh,  "the  blood  of  the  grape" 
was  appropriated  as  a  type  of  Christ's  sufferings.  (Gen. 
xlix,  9-12.)  Afterward,  in  the  Levitical  system,  a  meat  or 
bread  offering  made  of  fine  flour  mixed  with  oil,  and  a 
drink  offering  of  wine,  were  made  essential  parts  of  all 
sacrificial  offerings.  (See  Num.  xv,  and  xviii.)  Of  the 
festival  offerings,  to  which  the  passover  belonged,  a  part 
only  was  offered  upon  the  altar;  the  rest  being  appropriated 
to  the  worshippers.  Tiiey  thus  enjoyed  communion  with 
God,  at  his  table;  and  hence  the  proverbial  description 


Skc,  LXXXVL]    THE  CHRfSTI AN  PASSOVER.  409 

of  "  wine  which  cheeretli  God  and  mau." — Judg.  ix,  13. 
Thus,  in  the  passover  aud  all  the  Levitical  sacrifices,  two 
distinct  elements  were  typical  of  Christ's  sufferings ;  but  iu 
wholly  different  aspects.  The  blood  signified  the  satisfac- 
tion demanded  by  justice;  and  it  was,  therefore,  utterly 
prohibited  that  men  should  eat  of  it.  (Lev.  xvii,  10-14.) 
It  was  poured  upon  the  altar.  But  the  wine  expressed  the 
virtue  of  that  satisfaction,  imparted  to  believers  and  re- 
ceived by  them,  to  their  spiritual  nourishment.  Thus,  the 
wine  of  the  supper  is  not  a  substitute  for  the  blood  of  sac- 
rifice, but  is  a  distinct  and  co-ordinate  type,  transmitted 
from  the  passover,  and  other  sacrificial  rites,  and  unchanged 
in  its  meaning.  The  unleavened  bread  always  symbolized 
the  Bread  of  life  that  came  down  from  heaven;  and  the 
cup  always  represented  the  blood  of  the  new  covenant. 

That  the  passover  was  from  the  beginning  a  type  of 
the  atonement  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  certain.  (1.)  The 
ordinance  was  a  feast  upon  a  sacrifice.  From  the  found- 
ation of  the  world,  sacrifice  signified  one  thing, — the  satis- 
faction to  be  made  to  justice  by  the  Lord  Jesus.  Such 
being  the  case,  the  feast  of  Israel  upon  the  pascal  lamb 
could  have  but  one  meaning.  That  meaning  was  set  forth 
by  Jesus,  who  having  been  announced  by  John  as  the 
Lamb  of  God,  himself  says,  "If  any  man  eat  of  this 
bread  (artou,  "of  this  food"),  he  shall  live  forever,  and  the 
food  that  I  will  give,  is  my  flesh,  which  I  will  give  for  the 
life  of  the  world." — John  vi,  51.  (2.)  The  deliverance  of 
Israel  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  was  an  exercise  of  the 
same  redeeming  function,  which  is  displayed  in  the  salva- 
tion of  men ;  and  was  a  type  of  that  salvation.  Hence 
the  preface  to  the  ten  commandments. — "I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God  which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
Old  of  Hie  hoitse  of  bondage"  (Ex.  xx,  2);  which  the  West- 
minster catechism  explains  that  "  because  God  is  the  Lord 
and  our  God  and  Redeemer,  therefi)re,  we  are  bound  to 
keep  all  his  commandments."     (3.)  Jesus  himself  at  the 


410  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

very  time  when  he  eliminated  the  Lord's  supper  out  of 
the  passover,  declared  the  latter  to  be  a  type  of  his  suffer- 
ings and  death.  "With  desire  I  have  desired  to  eat  this 
passover  with  you  before  I  suffer.  For  I  say  unto  you,  I 
will  not  any  more  eat  thereof,  until  it  he  fulfilled  in  the 
kingdom  of  God." — ^Luke  xxii,  15,  16. 

How  plainly  the  Lord's  supper  was  an  epitome  and 
perpetuation  of  the  passover,  will  be  understood,  by  refer- 
ence to  the  manner  of  observance  of  the  latter  in  the  time 
of  Christ.  It  was  required  of  those  who  partook  t>f  the 
feast,  that  they  should  not  sit,  but  recline  at  the  table,  as 
expressing  liberty  and  rest.  When  they  Avere  thus  disposed, 
wine  was  distributed,  and  after  thanks  given  by  the  pre- 
siding person,  each  one  drank  a  cup.  The  master  then 
explained  the  nature  and  occasion  of  the  feast,  and  distrib- 
uted a  second  cup.  He  then  brake  the  unleavened  bread, 
gave  thanks,  and  gave  it  to  the  company,  w^itli  the  bitter 
herbs  and  other  provisions  that  WTre  on  the  table,  and 
afterward  the  flesh  of  the  lamb.  When  all  had  eaten  and 
the  supper  was  ended,  he  that  presided  took  another  cup 
of  wine,  and,  after  blessing  God,  all  drank  of  it.  This 
was  called  "the  cup  of  blessing,"  because  of  the  blessing 
on  it,  which  ended  the  feast.  Thus  the  order  of  the  feast 
was,  (1)  Thanksgiving;  (2)  A  cup  of  wine;  (3)  The 
commemorative  discourse;  (4)  A  second  cup;  (5)  A  sec- 
ond thanksgiving;  (6)  The  broken  bread;  (7)  The  flesh 
of  the  lamb;  (8)  The  closing  blessing;  (9)  The  cup  of 
blessing.  So,  at  the  beginning  of  the  supper,  Jesus  took 
the  cup,  and  gave  thanks  and  said,  "Take  this,  and  divide 
it  among  yourselves."  After  discourse,  and  Avashing  the 
disciples'  feet,  "he  took  bread,  and  gave  thauks  and  brake 
it  and  gave  unto  them,  saying,  This  is  my  body  which  is 
given  for  you;  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  Likewise, 
also,  the  cup  after  supper,  saying,  this  cup  is  the  new 
testament  in  my  blood,  which  is  shed  for  you." — Luke 
xxii,  17-20. 


Sbc.  LXXXVIL]    HEBREW  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  411 

The  Lord's  supper  was  not,  therefore,  a  distinct  ordi- 
nance, instituted  after  the  passover  was  ended,  by  the  use 
of  remaining  elements.  But  it  was  a  perpetuation  of  the 
passover,  itself,  by  appropriating  and  interpreting  portions 
of  the  elements,  from  time  to  time,  during  the  progress  of 
the  feast;  the  bread  being  that  which  was  broken  and 
eaten  before  the  paschal  flesh,  and  the  wine  that  which 
closed  the  feast ;  which  was  known  to  the  Jews  and  de- 
scribed in  the  Talmud,  as  the  cup  of  blessing,  and  which 
is  designated  by  that  name  by  the  apostle  Paul,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  Lord's  supper.  (1  Cor.  x,  16,)  The  particular 
number  and  order  of  the  cups  of  wine  and  of  the  thanks- 
givings were  regulations  of  the  scribes,  promotive  of  order 
and  propriety  in  the  observance ;  but  not  included  in  the 
divine  requirements  of  the  institution,  and  therefore  not 
essential  to  it.  This  fact  being  taken  into  account,  it  will 
appear  that  the  paschal  feast  remains  to  us  entire,  except 
only  the'  sacrificial  flesh  of  the  lamb.  Of  it  Paul  says, 
"Christ  our  passover  is  sacrificed  for  us;  therefore,  let  us 
keep  the  feast,  not  with  old  leaven,  neither  with  the  leaven 
of  malice  and  wickedness,  but  with  the  unleavened  bread 
of  sincerity  and  truth." — 1  Cor.  v,  7,  8. 

Section  LXXXVIL — Tim  Hebrew  Christian  Church. 

We  proceed  to  trace  the  order  and  process  of  the  devel- 
opment of  the  Christian  church,  as  it  took  place  under  the 
Sinai  constitution,  with  the  ordinances  modified  as  we  have 
seen.  The  synagogue  system  had  grown  up  long  before 
the  time  of  Christ.  In  it  provision  was  made  for  fulfilling 
those  injunctions  of  the  law  which  insisted  so  much  on  in- 
struction and  study  in  the  word  of  God,  and  which  set 
apart  the  Sabbaths  as  days  of  holy  convocation.  (Lev. 
xxiii,  3,  etc.)  In  the  organization  of  these  societies,  respect 
was  undoubtedly  had,  at  first,  to  the  ties  of  consanguinity ; 
so  that  the  members  of  a  given  cluster  of  families,  living 
in  the  same  vicinity  and  originally  descended  from  one 


412  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

head,  were  constituted  a  synagogue,  under  the  direction 
and  government  of  those  who  by  the  right  of  primogeni- 
ture Avere  the  family  elders.  But,  in  the  time  of  Christ, 
the  whole  system  of  the  distribution  and  inheritance  of  the 
land,  and  of  the  family  organization,  as  apj^oiuted  by  the 
law  of  Moses,  had  been  broken  up  by  the  repeated  captivi- 
ties, the  dispersion  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  the  vicissitudes 
of  war  and  peace.  The  synagogue  system  was  therefore 
more  artificial  in  its  structure,  and  more  characterized  by 
the  voluntary  principle.  Indications  of  voluntary  associa- 
tion and  elective  affinity  are  plainly  seen  in  the  names  of 
the  synagogues  members  of  which  were  active  in  the  per- 
secution of  Stephen. — "The  synagogue  of  the  Libertines, 
and  Cyrenians,  and  Alexandrians." — Acts  vi,  9.  It  is  in- 
deed evident  that  in  the  general  circumstances  of  the  Jews 
at  that  time,  in  Judea  and  elsewhere,  the  worshiping  as- 
semblies must  usually  have  been  the  products  of  voluntary 
association,  more  or  less  influenced  by  congeniality  of  senti- 
ments among  the  members.  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  sev- 
erally would  seek  the  worshiping  assemblies  in  which  their 
respective  views  were  favored.  Those  of  the  same  foreign 
nationality  would  naturally  gravitate  toward  each  other. 
And,  in  general,  congeniality,  from  whatever  cause,  would 
be  potential  in  these  associations. 

The  existence,  at  this  time,  in  the  bosom  of  the  Jewish 
church  of  the  tivo  sects,  or  parties,  of  the  Sadducees  and 
the  Pharisees,  was  a  very  important  fact  in  preparing  the 
way  for  the  gospel.  These  parties  are,  in  the  original 
Greek,  designated  by  the  generic  word,  hairesis,  which  is 
commonly  translated,  "sect,"  as  "  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees" 
(Acts  V,  17),  "the  sect  of  the  Pharisees"  (lb.  xv,  5), 
"  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes,"  (lb.  xxiv,  5).  In  one  place, 
it  is,  "  the  way  which  they  call  hereby." — lb.  xxiv,  14. 
Neither  of  these  words,  however,  is  a  happy  rendering  of 
the  original ;  which  has  nothing  of  the  idea  of  doctrinal 
error,  now  attached  to  the  word,  heresy;  and  nothing  of 


Sec.  LXXXVIL]    HEBREW  CHRISTIAN- CHURCH.  413 

the  odium  involved  iu  the  designation  of  ''sects;"  nor,  of 
the  denominational  separations  which  are  expressed  by  it. 
The  word,  as  used  in  Luke's  history  signifies,  a  party,  or 
rather,  a  society  having  a  distinctive  organization  more  or 
less  complete,  for  certain  special  purposes;  but  continuing 
in  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
Jewish  church  and  the  temple  worship.  Such  was  the 
position  at  once  assumed,  by  the  apostles  and  the  converts 
of  their  ministry.  They  were  organized  in  separate  syna- 
gogues. They  observed  the  first  day  of  the  week,  as  a  day 
of  assembling  for  worship  and  the  breaking  of  bread.  They 
received  their  converts  by  the  familiar  rite  of  baptism. 
But  they  were  all  zealous  of  the  law,  and  faithful,  there- 
fore, even  above  others  in  the  observance  of  its  require- 
ments. Thus,  despite  all  the  odium  which  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees  might  seek  to  cast  upon  them,  it  was  impossible 
to  impeach  them  of  apostasy  from  Judaism,  or  unfaithful- 
ness to  Moses.  Hence,  the  result  recorded  by  Luke. 
"  They,  continuing  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple, 
and  breaking  bread  from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat 
with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart;  praising  God,  and 
having  favor  with  all  the  people." — Acts  ii,  46,  47. 

Such  was  the  aspect  of  things  in  Jerusalem  and  Judea 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century ;  from  the  first  dissemination  of 
the  gospel  to  the  times  of  anarchy  which  preceded  the  des- 
olation of  the  land.  In  the  bosom  of  the  Jewish  church, 
beside  the  great  body  of  the  people,  were  the  three  socie- 
ties just  mentioned.  The  Sadducees  were  comparatively 
few  in  number,  but  influential,  by  reason  of  their  social 
position  and  wealth,  the  party  being  composed  almost  ex- 
clusively of  the  priests  and  aristocracy.  The  Pharisees 
were  more  numerous,  and  in  greater  favor  with  the  people ; 
for,  w4iile  the  Sadducees  were  chargeable  with  lax  opinions, 
the  Pharisees  were  ''  tlie  straitest  sect  of  the  Jews'  religion," 
including  all  those  who  hoped  to  secure  the  favor  of  God 
through  the  ri<^hteousness  of  the  law.     Beside  these   was 


414  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

"  the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes,"  far  greater  in  numbers  than 
either  of  the  others ;  and,  at  first,  more  in  favor  with  the 
mass  of  the  people, — a  favor  which  they  seem  to  have  re- 
tained till  the  growing  corruption  and  disorder  which  her- 
alded the  catastrophe  of  the  nation,  rendered  them  odious, 
alike  by  the  contrast  of  their  lives  with  the  prevailing  licen- 
tiousness, and  by  the  rebukes  and  Avarniugs  which  they 
could  not  fail  to  utter. 

Whilst  the  number  of  the  Christians,  as  compared  with 
the  whole  nation  was,  no  doubt,  small,  the  mistake  is  to  be 
avoided  of  regarding  it  as  insignificant.  A  comparison  of 
the  various  statements  on  the  subject  will  lead  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  company  of  the  believers  must  have  been 
so  large  as  to  constitute  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  fea- 
tures in  the  aspect  of  the  nation.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost 
"there  were  added  unto  them  about  three  thousand 
souls." — Acts  ii,  41.  A  few  days  afterward,  "  many  of 
them  which  heard  the  Avord  believed,  and  the  number  of 
the  men  Avas  about  five  thousand." — lb.  iv,  4.  Soon  after, 
it  is  again  recorded  that  "  the  people  magnified  them.  And 
believers  Avere  the  more  added  to  the  Lord,  multitudes  both 
of  men  and  Avomeu."— lb.  v,  13,  14.  Again,  it  is  stated 
that  the  high-priest  demanded  of  tlie  apostles, — "  Did  not 
we  straitly  command  you  that  ye  should  not  teacli  in  this 
name?  And  behold,  ye  have  filled  Jerusalem  Avith  your 
teaching  (didaches),  and  intend  to  bring  this  man's  blood 
upon  us." — lb.  V,  28.  Such  Avas  the  progress  of  the  gos- 
pel that  these  rulers  Avere  alarmed  lest  they  should  be  called 
by  the  people  to  account  for  the  death  of  Jesus.  Soon, 
again,  Ave  read  that  "  the  Avord  of  God  increased ;  and  the 
number  of  the  disciples  multiplied  in  Jerusalem  greatly ; 
and  a  great  company  of  the  priests  Avere  obedient  to  the 
faith." — lb.  vi,  7.  Immediately  after  this  Stephen  was 
martyred,  and  "  there  Avas  a  great  persecution  against  the 
church  which  Avas  at  Jerusalem ;  and  they  were  all  scat- 
tered abroad  throughout  the  regions  of  Judea  and  Samaria, 


Skc.  LXXXVIL]  HEBREW  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  415 

except  the  apostles." — lb.  viii,  1.  By  the  dispersed  be- 
lievei-s,  the  gospel  was  carried  through  the  laud  and  to 
the  Geutiles.  (lb.  xi,  19.)  Aud  in  Jerusalem  itself  the 
word  of  the  Lord  was  not  bouud.  The  persecution,  in  its 
active  form,  soon  ceased,  and  when  the  converted  Saul  re- 
tired from  Jerusalem  to  Tarsus,  we  read  that  "  then  had 
the  churches  rest  throughout  all  Judea  and  Galilee  and  Sa- 
maria, and  were  edified ;  and  walking  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost  were  multi- 
plied."— lb."  ix,  31.  Such  was  the  new  grow^th  of  the 
church  in  Jerusalem  that  when  Paul  made  his  last  visit  to 
that  city,  James  could  say  to  him, — ''Thou  seest,  brother, 
how  many  (miiriades)  ten  thousands  of  Jews  there  are 
which  believe." — lb.  xxi,  20.  To  the  inference  which 
naturally  follows  from  these  representations,  the  objection 
has  been  raised,  that  there  is  no  accounting  for  such  num- 
bers, in  the  after  history.  Alexander  suggests,  that  many 
Avere  false  professors,  who  "afterward  apostatized  or  sep- 
arated from  the  church,  as  Ebionites,  or  Judaiziug  here- 
tics."* So  dark  a  view,  however,  is  not  required  by  the 
facts.  Doubtless  there  were  some  defections.  But  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  them  to  have  been  of  the  extent 
here  implied.  The  circumstances  in  which  they  united 
with  the  persecuted  follow^ers  of  the  man  of  Nazareth,  were 
not  such  as  to  present  attractions  to  false  professors.  The 
patristic  tradition  that  none  of  the  C^hristians  perished  in 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  they  having  all  retired  to  Pella, 
whilst  it  may  possibly  be  true,  concerning  those  who  lived 
in  Jerusalem,  is  by  no  means  probable.  And  so  far  from 
Jesus  having  taught  the  disciples  to  expect  such  a  result, 
the  reverse  is  the  case.  That  the  churches  of  believers 
which  had  been  flourishing  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  in 
Judea,  Galilee  and  Samaria  must  have  suffered  greatly, 
from  the  disorders  and  anarchy  which  preceded  the  final 
catastrophe,  is  certain,  and  of  it  Jesus  expressly  forewarned 

*■  Alexander  on  Acts,  xxi,  20. 


416  NjEW  testament  church.  [Part  XIV. 

them. — **  Ye  shall  be  betrayed  both  by  parents  and  breth- 
ren and  kinsfolks,  and  friends ;  and  some  of  you  shall  they 
cause  to  be  put  io  death.  And  ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men 
for  my  name's  sake.  Bat  there  shall  not  an  hair  of  your 
head  perish  "  (even  though  ye  be  put  to  death).  *'  In  your 
patience  possess  ye  your  souls.  And  when  ye  shall  see  Je- 
rusalem compassed  with  armies,  then  know  that  the  deso- 
lation thereof  is  nigh." — Ijuke  xxi,  16-20.  See,  also,  Matt, 
xxiv,  9-13 ;  Mark  xiii,  9-13.  As  to  what  afteVward  be- 
came of  the  Christians  of  Judea, — in  view  of  the  scanty  re- 
maining records  of  the  time,  and  of  the  manner  in  which 
they  w^ere  identified  with  their  brethren  of  Israel  as  being 
none  the  less  Jews  because  they  were  Christians, — it  is  not 
surprising  that  we  can  not  distinctly  trace  their  subsequent 
history.  One  fact,  however,  is  patent  on  the  face  of  the 
scanty  record,  and  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  the  demands 
of  the  occasion.  It  is,  that  as  the  Christian  churches,  at 
a  later  period,  emerge  into  the  light  of  history  they  every- 
where bear  the  broad  and  indelible  impress  of  Hebrew 
Christian  influences. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  Hebrew  church  in  Je- 
rusalem itself  very  signally  confirms  the  view  here  pre- 
sented. As  soon  as  the  city  began  to  be  repeopled,  a 
church  was  re-established,  under  the  presidency,  as  Eusebius 
reports,  of  Simeon  the  son  of  Cleopus.  Of  his  successors, 
that  historian  says,— "  We  have  not  ascertained,  in  any 
way,  that  the  times  of  the  bishops  of  Jerusalem  have  been 
regularly  preserved  on  record.  For  tradition  says  that 
they  all  lived  but  a  very  short  time.  So  much,  however, 
have  I  learned  from  writers,  that  down  to  the  invasion  of 
the  Jews  under  Adrian  there  were  fifteen  successions  of 
bishops  in  that  church,  all  which,  they  declare  to  liave 
been  Hebrews  from  the  first,  and  received  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  pure  and  unadulterated,  so  that  in  the  estimation 
of  those  who  were  able  to  judge,  they  were  well  approved 
and  worthy  of  the  episcopal  office.     For,  at  that  time,  the 


Sec.  LXXXVIL]   HEBREW  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH.  417 

whole  churcli  imder  them  consisted  of  believing  Hebrews 
who  continued  from  the  time  of  the  apostles  until  the  siege 
that  then  took  place."     The  historian  gives  a  list  of  the 
succession  of  fifteen  bishops.     "These  are  all  the  bishops 
of  Jerusalem  that  filled  up  the  time  from  the  apostles  until 
the  above  mentioned  date, — all  being  of  the  circumcision."* 
The  list  ends  with  the  name  of  Judah,  who  perished  by 
the  sword  of  the  impostor,  Simon,  surnamed  Bar  Kokeba, 
**  the  Son  of  the  Star."     This  adventurer,  originally  a  rob- 
ber chieftain,  had  announced  himself  as  the  expected  Mes- 
siah of  Israel.     The  Jews,  groaning  under  the  oppressions 
of  the  Romans,  rushed  to  arms  and  rallied  to  his  stand- 
ard,  to  the    number   of  more   than   200,000  men.      He 
would  brook  no  neutrality.     The  Gentiles  of  Palestine  had 
to  choose  between  his  service  and  the  sword.    His  demands, 
repelled  by  the  Hebrew  Christians,  brought  on  them  his 
exterminating  vengeance,  and  Judah,  the  last  of  the  He- 
brew succession  of  the  bishops  of  Jerusalem,  perished,  with 
a  multitude  of  his  church,  under  the  swords  of  the  Jews.f 
Thus  closed  in  blood  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  church  in 
Jerusalem,  in  the  year  132.     As  for  Simon, — after  success- 
fully defying  for  two  years,  the  whole  power  of  Rome,  he 
and  his  forces  were  finally  cooped  up  in  the  town  of  Bethar, 
which  was  taken  by  storm.     The  impostor  perished,  with 
a  multitude  of  his  followers,  and  the  remnant  glutted  the 
slave  markets  of  the  world.    "  The  numbers  of  persons  who 
perished  by  sword,  flame,  and  hunger,  have  been  stated  as 
high  as  700,000,  by  others,  580,000.    As  to  Judaism  and  the 
Jewish  people,  the  land  might  be  said,  for  some  time,  to 
be  a  solitude.     The  native  inhabitants  who  had  escaped  the 
butchery  of  the  war  were  expatriated  either  by  banishment 
or  flight,  or  sold  into  bondage.     No  Jew  was  now  per- 
mitted to  come  within  sight  of  Jerusalem,  and  Gentile 


*  Eusebius  iii,  H  ;  iv,  5,  6. 

t  Etheridge's  Jerusalem  and  Tiberias,  p.  71. 


418  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

colonists  were  sent  to  take  possession  of  the  soil.     Jerusa- 
lem in  fact  became  a  Gentile  city."* 

Says  Mosheim, — "  AVhen  the  emperor  (Adrian)  had 
wholly  destroyed  Jerusalem,  a  second  time,  and  had  enacted 
severe  laws  against  the  Jews,  the  greater  part  of  the 
Christians  living  in  Palestine,  that  they  might  not  be  con- 
founded with  Jews  as  they  had  been,  laid  aside  the  Mosaic 
ceremonies,  and  chose  one  Mark  who  was  a  foreigner  and 
not  a  Jew,  for  their  bishop.  This  procedure  was  very 
offensive  to  those  among  them  whose  attachment  to  the 
Mosaic  rites  was  too  strong  to  be  eradicated.  They  there- 
fore separated  from  their  brethren,  and  formed  a  distinct 
society,  in  Perea,  a  part  of  Palestine,  and  in  the  neighbor- 
ing regions;  and  among  them  the  Mosaic  law  retained  all 
its  dignity  unimpaired."  f  These  Jewish  Christians,  known 
as  Nazarenes,  are  traceable  for  several  centuries,  orthodox 
in  their  faith  and  embraced  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Catholic 
church,  but  strict  in  the  observance  of  circumcision  and  the 
law  of  Moses,  as  far  as  practicable  in  the  circumstances 
of  the  Jews. 


Section  LXXXVIII.— T/ie  Gentiles  Graffed  in. 

While  such  as  we  have  described  was  the  constitution 
of  the  church  in  Jerusalem  and  Judea,  in  the  days  of  the 
apostles,  it  elsewhere  presented  a  different  aspect.  At 
Antioch,  Ephesus,  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  Corinth,  Rome 
and  other  places,  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  associated  to- 
gether in  the  churches. "  Where  such  w^as  the  case,  the 
Jewish  members,  like  their  brethren  in  Judea,  maintained 
the  ordinances  of  both  the  Levitical  and  Christian  liturgies. 
They  kept  sacred  alike  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and  the  Lord's 
day.  They  were  circumcised,  and  observed  all  the  require- 
ments of  the  law  of  Moses,  and  maintained  all  the  services 
of  the  synagogue  system.     At  the  same  time,  they  on  the 

*-Etheridge,  Ibid.  p.  72. 

t  Mosheim,  Eccl.  Hist.,  Cent.  II.,  Part  II.,  Ch.  v,  1,  2. 


Sec.  LXXXVIII.]      THE  GENTILES  GRAFFED  /AT  4.19 

Lord's  day,  imited  with  their  belie viug  Gentile  brethren, 
in  observing  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  church,  and  the 
sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Gentile  members  of  these 
churches  were  uncircumcised  and  free  from  the  bondage 
of  the  ritual  law.  They  kept  holy  the  Lord's  day  only; 
on  which  they  united  with  their  Jewish  brethren  in  the 
ordinances  of  Christian  worship  and  religion.  At  the  same 
time  these  Gentile  converts  were  more  or  less  in  the  habit 
of  frequenting  the  synagogue  services,  to  hear  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures  and  join  in  the  worship  of  the  God  of 
Israel.  In  these  services  their  position  was  similar  to  that 
held  by  the  class  of  persons  who  were  known  as  "devout 
persons,"  or  "  proselytes  of  the  gate."  In  fact,  it  was  usu- 
ally from  these  that  the  first  Gentile  converts  to  Christ 
were  gathered.  The  strong  tendency,  which  the  circum- 
stances were  calculated  to  induce  in  them,  to  embrace  the 
entire  system  of  Judaism  as  it  was  maintained  by  their 
Jewish  Christian  brethren,  elicited  from  Paul  those  expost- 
ulations which  have  been  misunderstood  as  implying  the 
absolute  abrogation  of  the  law.  His  earnestness  therein 
was  induced  by  the  fact,  that  the  voluntary  assumption  of 
the  yoke  of  the  ritual  law,  by  tliose  upon  whom  God  had 
not  laid  it,  was  a  manifest  apostasy  from  the  doctrine  of 
grace, — an  attempt  to  fulfill  a  righteousness  of  works. 

Of  the  mixed  state  of  these  churches,  the  first  epistle 
to  the  Corinthians  presents  constant  illustrations.  In  it, 
Paul  indulges  in  a  frequency  of  allusion  to  Old  Testament 
facts  which  presupposes  his  readers  to  be  familiar  with  the 
sacred  books  of  the  Jews.  In  one  place,  he  addresses  them 
as  being  of  the  stock  of  Israel,  "  Brethren,  I  would  not 
that  ye  should  be  ignorant,  how  that  all  our  fathers  were 
under  the  cloud,  and  all  passed  through  the  sea,  and  were 
all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea." — 
Ch.  X,  1-11.  On  the  other  hand,  the  apostle  alludes  to 
disorders  and  offenses,  in  the  church,  which  were  evidently 


420  A'EW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

committed  by  the  Gentile  members  (vi,  9-11 ;  xi,  20-22),  and 
moreover,  says  expressly, — "  Ye  know  that  ye  were  Gen- 
tiles, carried  away  unto  these  dumb  idols,  even  as  ye  were 
led." — xii,  2,  He  also,  as  we  have  already  seen,  gives  ex- 
press instructions  for  continuing  the  distinction  between 
Jew  and  Gentile,  in  the  church.  "Is  any  man  called 
being  circumcised?  Let  him  not  become  uncircumcised 
Is  any  called  in  uncircumcision  ?  Let  him  not  be  circum- 
cised."— vii,  18. 

But  there  was  yet  another  class  of  churches,  which  may 
be  exemplified  in  Lystra,  Derbe,  and  Galatia, — churches 
where  there  were  no  Jews,  or  in  which  their  number  was 
so  small  as  to  constitute  an  uuappreciable  element.  In 
them,  the  Christian  Sabbath  and  ordinances  were  alone 
observed,  the  assemblies  and  services  on  the  Lord's  day 
being  precisely  the  same  in  their  nature  and  manner  as 
those  maintained  where  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  united. 

Of  all  these  churches,  whether  of  Jewish,  mixed,  or 
Gentile  elements,  the  local  constitution  and  form  of  gov- 
ernment was  the  same ;  being  that  of  the  synagogue.  This 
the  circumstances  rendered  inevitable ;  and  to  it  all  the 
statements  and  intimations  of  the  Scriptures  testify.  In 
fact,  in  the  epistle  of  James  they  are  expressly  designated 
by  that  name. — "If  there  come  unto  your  Sj/nagogue, 
(sunagogen)  a  man  with  a  gold  ring." — Ja.  ii,  2.  It  is  true 
the  epistle  is  inscribed,  "  to  the  twelve  tribes  which  are  scat- 
tered abroad." — lb.  i,  1.  But  it  is  to  the  Christians  of 
those  scattered  tribes,  that  he  addresses  himself  With 
them  Gentile  believers  were  always  to  be  found  united ; 
and  no  one  will  pretend  that  there  were  two  forms  of  or- 
ganization ;  one  for  the  Jews,  and  another  for  the  Gen- 
tiles. These  churches  were  self-governed,  so  far  as  internal 
order  and  discipline  were  concerned.  But  with  relation 
to  the  fundamental  laws  of  their  existence  and  rule  of 
their  faith  they  were  in  a  state  of  recognized  and  entire 
dependence  on  the   church   in   Jerusalem.     This  relation 


Sec.  LXXXVIII.]    THE  GENTILES  GRAFFEO  IN.  421 

was  indicated  and  expressed  in  a  very  peculiar  and  conclu- 
sive manner.  The  vital  question  concerning  the  relation 
of  the  Gentiles  to  the  law  of  Moses  arose  in  the  church  in 
Antioch,  in  which  there  were  not  only  certain  prophets 
(Acts  xiii,  1,  2),  but  Paul  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles. Naturally,  we  should  have  expected  such  a  question 
to  be  brought  to  an  immediate  decision,  by  prophetic  rev- 
elation, or  by  the  authority  of  the  apostle,  confirmed  by 
signs  following.  And,  in  fact,  there  wa^  an  immediate 
divine  interposition.  But  it  was  an  interposition  by  which 
the  question  was  remanded  to  Jerusalem  to  be  decided 
there.  Paul  says  to  the  Galatians, — "I  went  up  to  Jeru- 
salem, with  Barnabas,  and  took  Titus  with  me  also.  And 
I  went  up  Qiaixi  ajjokalupsin)  in  accordance  with  a  revela- 
tion."— Gal.  ii,  1,  2.  Again,  when  he  came  to  Jerusalem, 
there  were  present  John,  the  beloved  of  Jesus,  and  Peter, 
the  chief  of  the  apostles;  beside  James,  the  brother  of 
the  Lord  and  head  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem.  (lb.  ii,  9.) 
But  not  by  either  or  all  of  them  was  the  question  decided, 
but  referred  to  the  council  of  the  church,  and,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  was  there  determined  by  de- 
liberative consultation  and  vote ;  and  the  decree  was  drawn 
up  and  sent  forth  in  the  name  of  "  the  apostles,  and  elders 
and  brethren." — Acts  xv,  22,  23,  25.  The  relation  of  that 
council  to  the  Jerusalem  eldership  and  church  is  indicated 
by  the  manner  in  which  at  a  later  date  those  elders  re- 
ferred to  it,  in  conference  with  Paul.  "As  touching  the 
Gentiles  which  believe,  we  have  written  and  concluded." — 
Acts  xxi,  25,  18.  Upon  Paul's  return  to  Antioch,  and 
resumption  of  his  missionary  labors,  after  the  council,  he 
and  his  attendants,  "as  they  went  through  the  cities,  deliv- 
ered them  the  decrees  for  to  keep,  that  were  ordained  of 
the  apostles  and  elders  which  were  at  Jerusalem." — lb.  xvi, 
4.  It  would  thus  appear  beyond  question,  that  this  busi- 
ness was  so  ordered  by  the  Head  of  the  church,  as  to  dem- 
onstrate the  fact  of  the  organic  dependence  of  the  Gentile 


422  NEW  TESTAMENT  CHURCH.  [Part  XIV. 

churches  everywhere, — not  upon  the  authority  of  the  apos- 
tles, as  such,  but  upon  the  ancient  church  of  Israel,  in  the 
councils  of  which  the  apostles  sJft  as  elders,  with  the  elders. 
(1  Peter  v,  1.)  It  was  an  indication  to  the  Gentile  churches 
tliat  their  privilege  was  that  of  partakers  with  Israel  in  her 
spiritual  things.  (Rora.  xv,  27.)  Believing  Israel  was 
thus  presented,  as  not  only  the  source  whence  the  gospel 
flowed  to  the  Gentiles,  but  as  ordained  to  be  to  them  the 
authorized  exponent  of  that  gospel.  The  principle  here 
involved,  is  appealed  to  by  Paul,  when  in  represshig  the 
arrogant  assumptions  of  some  in  the  Corinthian  church, 
he  demands  of  them, — "What!  came  the  word  of  God 
out  from  you?  or,  came  it  unto  you,  only?" — 1  Cor.  xiv, 
36.  In  this  relation  of  the  Jewish  church  to  those  of  the 
Gentiles,  there  was  a  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
(ii,  3)  reechoed  by  Micah: — "In  the  last  days  .  .  .  many 
nations  shall  come,  and  say,  Come,  and  let  us  go  up  to  the 
mountain  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the  house  of  the  God  of 
Jacob;  and  he  wall  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk 
in  his  paths:  for  the  law  shall  go  forth  of  Zion,  and  the 
w^ord  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem." — Micah  iv,  1,  2. 

Thus,  while  the  great  body  of  Israel  after  the  flesh  re- 
jected the  Angel  of  the  covenant,  who  was  promised  at  Si- 
nai to  their  fathers  (Ex.  xxiii,  20),  and  in  so  doing  for- 
feited and  were  cut  ofi*  from  its  fold,  their  believing  brethren 
remained  in  full  possession  of  its  rights,  and  privileges ;  and 
the  Gentiles,  receiving  Christ,  became  with  them  partakers 
therein,  according  to  the  i:)roviso  which  from  the  beginning 
reserved  room  for  them  ; — "  For  all  the  earth  is  mine." — 
Ex.  xix,  5. 

It  was  at  a  time  when  the  condition  of  things  here  de- 
scribed, in  Judea  and  among  the  Gentiles  had  attained  to 
its  completest  realization,  that  Paul  addressed  the  Romans 
in  a  figure  which  is  in  beautiful  accord  with  the  literal 
facts ;  as  they  had  been  already  realized.  ' '  If  some  of  the 
branches  be  broken  off",  and  thou  being  a  wild  olive  tree, 


Skc.  lxxxviii.]  the  gentiles  graffed  in.  423 

wcrt  graffed  io  among  them,  and  with  them  partakest  of 
the  root  and  fatness  of  the  olive  tree, — boast  not  against 
the  branches.  But,  if  thou  boast,  thou  bearest  not  the 
root;  but  the  root,  thee.  Thou  wilt  say,  then,  .  .  .  The 
branches  were  broken  off,  that  I  might  be  graffed  in. 
Well :  because  of  unbelief  they  Avere  broken  off,  and  thoii 
standest  by  faith.  Be  not  highminded  but  fear.  For  if 
God  spared  not  the  natural  branches,  take  heed  lest  he  also 
spare  not  thee.  .  .  .  And  they  also  if  they  abide  not  still 
in  unbelief,  shall  be  graffed  in  :  for  God  is  able  to  graff 
them  in  again.  For  if  thou  wert  cut  out  of  the  olive  tree, 
which  is  wdld  by  nature,  and  wert  graffed  contrary  to  nature 
into  a  good  olive  tree ;  how  much  more  shall  these  which 
be  the  natural  branches,  be  graffed  into  their  own  olive 
tree."— Rom.  xi,  17-24. 

The  Christian  church  is  not  a  new^  institution,  nor  its 
constitution  a  new  organic  law.  But  it  is,  in  the  strictest 
and  most  absolute  sense,  lineally  and  organically  one  with 
that  of  Israel,  founded  and  perpetuated  upon  the  covenant 
of  Sinai. 


424  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM,  [Part  XV, 


Part  XV. 

CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM. 

Section  LXXXIX. — History  of  the  Rite. 

BUT  two  of  the  evangelists,  Matthew  and  Mark,  mention 
baptism  in  connection  with  the  last  instructions  of 
Jesus;  and  of  these,  Mark  introduces  it  in  an  incidental 
way,  as  though  it  had  been  a  matter  already  understood. 
(Matt,  xxviii,  19,  20 ;  Mark  xvi,  15,  16.)  The  reason  was 
that  the  apostles  were  not  then  first  commissioned  to  baptize. 
On  this  point,  Calvin  speaking  with  reference  to  the  argu- 
ments of  the  Anabaptists  says,  ''  It  is  a  mistake  worse  than 
childish  to  consider  that  commission  as  the  original  institu- 
tion of  baptism, — which  Christ  had  commanded  his  apostles 
to  administer,  from  the  commencement  of  his  preaching. 
They  have  no  reason  to  contend,  therefore,  that  the  law 
and  rule  of  baptism  ought  to  be  derived  from  those  two 
passages,  as  if  they  contained  the  first  institution  of  it."-'^ 
Upon  this,  Dr.  Dale  says, — "  Calvin  is  right  in  dating 
Christian  ritual  baptism  from  the  ministry  and  authority 
of  Christ,  and  not  from  that  of  John,  even  if  they  were 
'entirely  identical,  which  they  are  not.  The  baptism  of 
John  is  Christian  baptism,  as  far  as  it  goes;  but  it  is  Chris- 
tian baptism  undeveloped  in  the  blood  shedding  of  an  aton- 
ing Redeemer,  in  which  shedding  of  blood,  'for  the  remis- 
sion of,  sins,'  ritual  baptism  has  its  exclusive  ground." 
Again,  speaking  of  the  words  of  Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost,— "  Repent  and  be  baptized," — he  asks, — "  What  was 
this  baptism?  Was  it  a  Jewish  baptism,  a  ceremonial 
cleansing  of  the  body,  merely?     Was  it  John's  baptism,  a 

•=•  Institutes,  Book  IV,  chap,  xvi,  ?  37. 


Src.  lxxxix.]       history  of  the  rite.  425 

spiritual  baptism  (haptiwia  metanoias)  in  wliich  no  Holy 
Ghost  was  yet  '  poured  out,'  no  crucified  Redeemer  was  yet 
revealed?  Was  it  Christian  baptism,  the  baptism  of  Christ, 
the  crucified,  the  Risen,  the  Ascended,  the  Pourer  out  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  ?"*  In  these  passages  we  have  a  statement 
of  differentia  upon  which  the  lamented  author  insists  ear- 
nestly, as  distinguishing  the  baptisms  named,  from  each 
other.  As  to  the  Jewish  baptisms, — those  which  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  divine  law,  they  were,  as  we  have  seen, 
spiritual  in  the  same  sense  precisely  as  were  the  baptisms 
of  John  and  of  Christ ;  and  the  latter  were  and  are  "  a  cer- 
emonial cleansiug  of  the  body,  merely,"  in  the  same  sense 
as  were  the  baptisms  of  the  Jews.  To  this  day,  "  the  letter," 
or  outward  form  of  Christian  baptism  is  a  ceremonial  cleans- 
ing of  those  who  are  ritually  unclean.  No  otherwise  could 
it  show  forth  "  the  spirit"  of  the  ordinance,  which  is  the 
real  purging,  by  the  Spirit,  of  those  who  are  spiritually  de- 
filed. From  the  beginning  to  the  present  day,  the  ritual 
baptisms  always  signified,  the  very  same  spiritual  truths. 
And  they  w^ere  all  alike  devoid  of  any  spiritual  power  in 
themselves. 

But  let  us  trace  the  line  of  connection  between  them. 
Very  early  in  the  ministry  of  Jesus,  before  the  imprison- 
ment of  John,  while  the  latter  was  baptizing  in  Enon, 
"  Jesus  and  his  disciples  came  into  the  land  of  Judea ;  aud 
there  he  tarried  with  them  and  baptized."  But  "  when  the 
Lord  knew  how  the  Pharisees  had  heard  that  Jesus  made 
and  baptized  more  disciples  than  John,  (though  Jesus  him- 
self baptized  not,  but  his  disciples),  he  left  Judea,  and  de- 
parted again  into  Galilee." — John  iii,  22 ;  iv,  1-3.  Here,  be  it 
observed,  (1.)  that  John  was  the  intelligent,  faithful  and 
inspired  forerunner  and  herald  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  The 
gospel  which  he  preached  \vas  that  which  the  Spirit  of 
Christ  gave  him,  and  the  baptism  which  he  adminis- 
tered set  forth  that  gospel  in  ritual  figure.     His  preaching 

••••Dale's  "Christie  Baptism,"  pp.  430,  431. 
36 


426  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Paut  XV. 

was  summed  in  one  word.  "Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand."  (2.)  The  Lord  Jesus  preached  the 
very  same  word,  and  gave  it  to  the  apostles  and  the  seventy 
to  proclaim,  when  he  sent  them  abroad  through  the  laud. 
"  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  (3.)  There 
is  not  an  intimation  in  the  Scriptures,  nor  suggestion  to 
justify  the  idea,  of  the  least  difference  in  the  form  and 
nature  of  the  baptisms  at  this  stage  of  the  history,  ad- 
ministered by  them  respectively.  Certainly  if  there  were 
differences,  they  must  have  been  characterized  by  a  minute- 
ness and  subtlety,  fit  rather  to'  exercise  the  ingenuity  of 
hair-splitting  schoolmen,  than  to  instruct  the  common  peo- 
ple of  Judea ;  who,  upon  the  supposition  of  diversity,  were 
called  to  c/ioose  hetween  the  rival  baptisms.  John's  baptism  was 
at  first  into  the  name  of  "  the  coming  One,"  "  the  Baptizer 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire."  Of  that  baptism  his 
was  proclaimed  to  be  a  symbol.  When  Jesus  came,  John 
at  once  identified  him  as  the  coming  One,  and  thenceforth 
his  baptism  was  into  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  I  do 
not  mean  that  John  made  use  of  those  phrases.  To  this 
point  we  shall  come  presently.  But  "John  verily  baptized 
with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  i^eople 
that  they  should  believe  on  him  which  should  come  after 
him;  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus." — Acts  xix,  4.  The  rite 
which  he  dispensed  sealed  upon  the  recipients  their  profes- 
sion of  repentance  and  faith  in  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  the 
atoning  Lamb,  the  King  Baptizer.  In  a  report  of  one  of 
his  discourses,  which  occupies  seven  verses  of  the  gospel 
of  John,  each  of  these  titles  and  the  things  implied  in 
them  is  brought  out  with  perfect  distinctness.  (John  i, 
29-36.)  That  John  was  ignorant  of  the  precise  form  of 
crucifixion,  as  that  in  which  atonement  was  to  be  made,  is 
possible ;  although  even  there  the  facts  do  not  warrant  the 
confidence  of  Dr.  Dale's  assertions.  But  that  he  was  not 
ignorant  of  Christ's  atoning  ofiice,  his  own  words  distinctly 
testify.     "  Behold   the  Lamb  of  God,  which   taketh  away 


Sec.  LXXXIX.]        H/^TORY  OF  THE  RITE.  ^11 

the  sin  of  the  world." — John  i,  29.  (4.)  The  whole  man- 
ner of  the  narrative  from  which  we  learn  the  fact  that 
Christ's  disciples  baptized,  indicates  the  identity  of  the 
ordinance  as  administered  by  them  with  that  of  John. 
The  fact  is  not  mentioned  for  its  own  sake,  but  as  intro- 
ductory and  explanatory  of  the  testimony  of  John  respect- 
ing Jesus.  (John  iii,  22-30.)  In  fact,  we  have  no  in- 
formation whatever  of  the  nature  and  meaning  of  Christ's 
baptism,  as  thus  originated,  except  in  its  justly  assumed 
identity  with  that  of  John.  This,  the  language  of  John's 
interlocutors  implies  (lb.  26),  and  upon  the  basis  of  this 
assumption  the  whole  narrative  rests.  This  remark  applies 
also  to  the  subsequent  statement, — that  "  the  Lord  knew 
how  the  Pharisees  had  heard  that  Jesus  made  and  baptized 
more  disciples  than  John ;  though  Jesus  himself  baptized 
not,  but  his  disciples." — John  iv,  1,  2.  Here  the  one  word, 
*'  baptized,"  without  qualification  or  differentiating  phrase, 
is  applied  to  both  Christ's  disciples  and  John,  and  plainly 
identifies  the  rite  administered  by  them  as  one  and  the 
same.  That  such  was  the  case  can  not  be  successfully 
questioned. 

And  now,  what  have  we,  in  the  ordinance  thus  dis- 
pensed by  the  disciples  under  the  eye,  and  as  a  seal  to  the 
preaching,  of  Christ,  but  Christian  baptism?  True,  the 
disciples  were  ignorant  at  that  time,  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
cross,  which  in  flict  they  refused  to  believe,  till  their  Mas- 
ter was  crucified  before  their  eyes.  But  while  the  baptism 
was  administered  by  their  hands,  it  was  in  Christ's  imme- 
diate presence,  by  his  authority,  and  as  a  seal  to  the  gospel 
which  he  preached.  How  then  could  their  ignorance  and 
hardness,  or  that  of  John,  if  he  be  so  impeached,  change 
the  nature  of  the  rite  which  by  Christ's  authority  they 
both  administered?  And,  especially,  how  could  this  be, 
when  in  fact  that  baptism,  while  it  presupposed  Christ's 
atoning  sufferings,  yet  had  no  immediate  relation  to  them, 
but    to    his    kingdom    and    elorv, — the    theme    of  John's 


428  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM,  \Vk^T  XV. 

preaching, — the  one  thing  in  Christ's  instructions  which 
the  apostles  gladly  received? 

To  what  extent  this  baptizing  function  of  the  apostles 
continued  in  exercise  during  the  subsequent  ministrj^  of 
Christ,  we  are  not  informed.  But,  the  manner  in  which, 
first  and  last,  the  subject  is  treated  by  the  evangelists  im- 
plies that  it  never  was  in  abeyance.  Hence,  in  his  final 
interviews  with  them,  Jesus  does  not  speak  of  the  ordi- 
nance as  a  novelty,  nor  as  a  rite  to  be  reintroduced ;  but 
alludes  to  it  as  to  a  familiar  subject.  In  fact,  his  only  re- 
corded references  to  it,  have  in  view,  not  the  ordinance,  in 
itself  considered,  but  iU  bestoival  on  the  Gentiles.  "  Go  ye, 
disciple  all  nations,  baptizing  them." — Matt,  xxviii,  19.  *'Go 
ye  into  all  the  ivorld  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture. He  that  helieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  but 
he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." — Mark  xvi,  15, 
16.  By  this  decree,  the  ordinance,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  already  divested  of  its  sacrificial  elements,  was 
released  from  its  peculiar  and  restricted  relation  to  the 
Jewish  people.  Heretofore,  only  the  circumcised  could  be 
admitted  to  baptism ;  and  the  rite,  when  administered  to 
them,  was  received  as  a  certificate  of  title  to  the  privileges 
of  the  covenant,  in  connection  with  the  Mosaic  ritual  and 
the  temple  service.  But,  by  this  decree  of  Christ,  it  was 
appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  Gentiles,  also ;  as  certifying 
to  them  a  part  in  the  same  covenant,  relieved  of  the  en- 
cumbrance of  the  ritual  law.  That  its  administration  to 
the  converts  of  Christ's  ministry  is  not  mentioned,  presents 
no  just  occasion  of  surprise,  in  view  of  the  fiimiliarity  of 
the  ordinance  and  the  emphasis  already  given  to  it  in  con- 
nection with  John's  ministry.  That  Christ's  disciples  bap- 
tized at  all  is  only  known  to  us  by  the  incidental  mention 
in  the  last  of  the  evangelists. 

The  facts  here  developed  are  of  immense  importance  in 
their  bearing  upon  our  present  inquiry.  Tlie  Lord  Jesus  did 
not  institute  baptism,  at  any  time.     He  recognized  it  as  an 


Sec.  LXXXIX.]        HISTORY  OF  THE  RITE.  429 

ordinance  of  God  given  to  Israel  ages  before, — accepted  it 
personally  from  the  hands  of  John, — immediately  appointed 
his  disciples  to  administer  it  to  the  Jews  in  conjunction  with 
John,  and  then,  after  his  resurrection  and  assumption  of 
the  sceptre,  commanded  them  to  dispense  it  to  the  Gentiles 
also. — "All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  earth. 
Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations  baptizing  them." 

The  rebaptism  of  the  twelve  disciples  of  John,  by  Paul  at 
Ephesus  (Acts  xix,  1-7),  may  be  thought  inconsistent  with 
the  assertion  of  the  identity  of  the  baptisms  of  John  and  of 
the  Christian  church.  But  when  the  facts  are  considered 
in  their  true  relations,  they  will  appear  in  perfect  harmony 
with  all  that  have  been  heretofore  adduced,  and  entirely 
consistent  with  the  conclusions  thence  derived.  John  was 
the  herald  of  Christ.  His  preaching  and  baptism  had 
neither  significance  nor  value,  except  as  they  directed  the 
attention  and  faith  of  his  disciples  to  the  coming  of  Christ 
and  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  He  should  ad- 
minister. To  the  great  mass  of  those  who  received  his  bap- 
tism, no  profit  resulted,  because  it  was  not  followed  up  by 
a  waiting  for  Christ's  coming,  and  a  devotion  to  him  when 
he  was  revealed.  It  effected  no  actual  separation  of  such 
disciples  from  the  unbelieving  mass  of  the  nation.  When, 
therefore,  the  crisis  came  and  the  Saviour  was  crucified, 
they  sustained  no  relation  of  identity  with  him  and  his 
cause ;  but  were  an  undistinguishable  part  of  the  nation, 
whose  rulers  betrayed  and  crucified  Him.  The  baptism 
which  they  had  received  was  no  magical  rite,  leaving  an 
indehble  impress  on  the  recipients;  but  a  rational  ordi- 
nance, designed  to  mark  and  seal  a  separation  and  consecra- 
tion unto  Christ.  Precisely  here,  was  the  point  of  Paul's 
testimony  to  these  men.— "John  verily  baptized  with  the 
baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  people  that  thoy 
should  helieve  on  him  lohich  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on 
Christ  Jesus."  Where  this  intent  of  John's  baptism  did 
not  follow, — where  no  separation  unto  Christ  was  actually 


430  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

effected,  the  parties  remained  unclean,  with  the  unclean 
nation.  In  them  was  fulfilled  the  proverb  of  the  son  of 
8irach. — "He  that  is  baptized  from  the  dead,  and  again 
toucheth  the  dead,  Avhat  availeth  his  washing?" — Ecclus. 
xxxi,  30.  Such  was  the  case  with  any  of  the  converts  of 
Pentecost,  who  had  been  John's  disciples.  And  such  evi- 
dently were  the  Ephesian  disciples.  They  were  behevers 
in  the  Messiah  of  prophecy,  as  heralded  by  John.  But 
their  faith  was  weak  and  supineness  prevalent.  They  had 
not  followed  up  the  line  of  John's  testimony,  with  the  zeal 
of  a  living  consecration.  The  baptism  which  they  had  re- 
ceived had  effected  no  separation  unto  Christ.  "When, 
therefore,  under  the  ministry  of  Paul,  they  were  prepared 
to  begin  a  new  life,  their  consecration  was  sealed  by  a  new 
administration  of  the  same  baptism.* 

That  this  is  a  jast  view  of  the  case  in  question  farther 
appears  from  the  manner  in  which  it  is  presented  in  imme- 
diate connection  and  contrast  with  that  of  Apollos,  whose 
story  closes  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Acts,  as  that  of 
the  twelve  opens  the  nineteenth.  Of  him  it  is  stated  that 
he  was  "an  eloquent  man,  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures, 
instructed  in  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  being  fervent  in 
the  spirit,  he  spake  and  taught  diligently  the  things  of  the 
Lord,  knowing  only  the  baptism  of  John.  And  he  began 
to  speak  boldly  in  the  synagogue;  whom,  when  Aquila 
and  Priscilla  had  heard,  they  took  him  unto  them,  and  ex- 
pounded unto  him  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly." — Acts 
xviii,  24-26.  The  silence,  here,  on  the  subject  of  baptism, 
and  the  emphasis  given  to  its  statement  immediately  after, 
in  the  case  of  the  twelve,  is  pregnant.  For,  all  occurred 
in  the  same  city  of  Ephesus,  where  Apollos  was  instructed 
and  preaching  just  before  Paul's  coming,  and  the  baptism 
of  the  twelve. 

Note. — How  can  we  consistently  restore  excommunicated 
persons  without  rebaptism  ?    Is  not  the  prevalent  practice  a 

*See  Alexander  on  Acts  xiv,  5. 


Skc.  xc]  baptizing  into  the  name.  431 

relic  of  the  opu%  operatum  lieresy?  "If  any  one  assert  that  in 
the  three  sacraments,  baptism,  conjSrmation,  and  orders,  there 
is  not  a  mark  imprinted  on  the  soul, — that  is  a  certain  spiritual 
and  indelible  token,  whence,  it  may  not  be  repeated, — let  him 
be  anathema." — Council  of  Trent,  Sess.  vii.  Canon  9.  Is  this 
the  faith  which  we  hold? 

Section  XC. — ''Baptizing  them  into  the  Name." 

*'Aud  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them  and  said,  All 
power  is  given  unto  me,  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  Go  ye, 
therefore,  and  (matheteiisate)  disciple  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  (eis)  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsover  I  have  commanded  you;  and  lo,  I  am 
with  you  alway  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." — Matt, 
xxviii,  18-20. 

Here  are  two  things  to  be  considered: — (1)  The  phrase, 
*'into  the  name;"  (2)  "The  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

1.  *'Into  the  name."  The  phrase,  "in  the  name,"  as- 
found  in  the  common  English  version,  represents  three 
distinct  forms  of  expression,  in  the  original,  which  are 
essentially  different  in  their  meaning,  and  should,  there- 
fore, be  carefully  discriminated.  They  are  "(m)  in  the 
name;"  ''(epi)  for  the  name,"  and  "(eis)  into  the  name." 
The  essential  idea  expressed  by  the  first  of  these  is,  repre- 
sentative union,  as  a  person  who  speaks  or  acts  "in  the 
name"  of  another,  identifies  himself  with  that  other. 
Thus, — "Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name." — John 
xiv,  13,  14,  26;  xv,  16,  etc.  "Ye  are  justified  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." — 1  Cor.  vi,  11.  "Giving  thanks 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." — Eph.  v,  20.  "Do  all  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." — Col.  iii,  17.  Hence  the 
use  of  the  expression,  as  signifying,  "by  the  authority  of." 
Thus,  "I  am  come  in  my  Fathcrh  name,  and  ye  receive  me 
not;  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him  ye  will 
receive." — John  v,  43.     "/?i  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ   of 


432  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

Nazareth,  rise  up  and  walk." — Acts  iii,  6.  "I  command 
thee,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  come  out  of  her." — lb. 
xvi,  18.  There  is  but  one  passage  in  which  this  form  of 
expression  is  used  in  connection  with  baptizo.  Acts  x,  48, — 
"He  commanded  them  to  be  baptized,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord."  The  analogy  of  the  phrase  elsewhere,  would  re- 
quire us  to  understand  it  here  as  meaning,  "  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  Lord."  The  codex  Sinaiticus  reads, — "He  com- 
manded them  (en  to  'onomati  Ju  Xu  haptiathenai) ,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  baptized."  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  quotes 
the  passage  in  the  same  order.*  Not  only  does  the  form 
of  the  phrase  in  itself  call  for  this  rendering,  but  the  con- 
nection is  equally  clear,  in  the  same  direction.  The  case 
was  the  baptism  of  the  house  of  Cornelius.  Peter  de- 
mands,— "  Can  any  man  forbid  the  water,  that  these  should 
not  be  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost,  as 
well  as  we?"  The  point  at  issue  was  the  admission  of  the 
Gentile  world  to  a  part  in  the  salvation  of  Christ.  Peter 
had  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  testified  that  it  was  the  Lord 
Jesus  by  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  had  been  poured  out.  He 
had  been  admonished  by  Jesus  in  a  vision  that  the  Gen- 
tiles were  not  to  be  excluded  from  the  blessings  of  the 
gospel.  He  now  calls  the  attention  of  his  six  Jewish  com- 
panions (Acts  xi,  12),  to  the  fact  that  the  house  of  Corue- 
lius  was  baptized  by  the  Lord  Jesus  himself,  with  the 
same  Spirit  which  had  been  poured  upon  'the  Jews  on 
Pentecost;  and  with  an  emphatic  pause,  challenges  objec- 
tion. There  being  none,  the  apostle,  then,  in  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  Christ,  proclaims  the  doors  of  sal- 
vation thrown  open  to  the  world.  He  "in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  commanded  them  to  be  baptized;"  and 
afterward  vindicated  the  action  by  the  demand,  "What 
was  I,  that  I  should  withstand  God." — Acts  xi,  17. 

Epi^  in  this  connection,  has  the  general  meaning  of,  be- 
cause of, — on  account  of, — with  reference  to,— for ;  and  the 

*In  Dale,  Christie  Baptism,  p.  205. 


Sec.  XC]  BAPTIZING  INTO  THE  NAME.  433 

phrase  as  thus  constructed  means,  "  for  the  sake  of."  Thus, 
"  Whoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  (epi  'onomati 
7nou)jfor  my  name's  sake." — Matt,  xviii,  5;  Mark  ix,  37. 
"They  called  him  Zacharias  (epi),for  the  sake  of  his  fath- 
er's name." — Luke  i,  59.  "  That  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins  should  be  preached  {e pi)  for  his  name's  sake." — Luke 
xxiv,  47.  "That  they  speak  henceforth  to  no  man  (epi) 
for  tJhe  sake  of  the  name." — Acts  iv,  17.  From  these  illus- 
trations, it  will  be  seen  that  in  connection  with  baptism, 
the  rendering,  of  epi, — "in  the  name," — altogether  misses 
the  idea  of  the  sacred  writer.  It  occurs  but  once.  On  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  Peter,  in  reply  to  the  cry, — ''  What  shall 
we  do?"  answered, — "  Kepent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of 
you  (epi),  for  Hie  sake  of  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  (eis),  unto 
the  remission  of  sins." — Acts  ii,  38.  Jesus  had  said,  "He 
that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved."  Peter, 
therefore,  tells  the  multitude,  "  Eepent  and  be  baptized. 
Do  this,  in  honor  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  and  unto  the  remis- 
sion of  sins ;  since  repentance,  and  obedience  shown  by  re- 
ceiving baptism,  are  pledges  of  remission." 

In  the  text  of  Matthew,  which  stands  at  the  head  of 
this  section,  the  w'ord  is,  eis, — "Baptizing  them  (eh),  into 
the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost."  This  is  the  preposition  ordinarily  used  with  rela- 
tion to  baptism,  both  real  and  ritual.  In  connection  with 
the  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  its  signification  is  so  fully  ex- 
plained and  illustrated  as  to  admit  of  no  doubt  or  question. 
They  that  are  "baptized  (eii)  into  Christ"  (Gal.  iii,  27; 
Rom.  vi,  3),  are  united  to  him, — "by  one  Spirit  baptized 
(eis)  into  one  body,"  "  the  body  of  Christ." — 1  Cor.  xii,  13, 
27.  Those  who  are  "  baptized  (eis)  into  his  death,"  are 
thereby  "  dead  with  him." — Rom.  vi,  3,  8.  So,  it  is  said 
of  the  children  of  Israel  that  they  were  "  baptized  (eis)  into 
IMoses,  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,"  as  the  passage  of  the 
Red  Sea,  the  destruction  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  deliver- 
ance of  Israel  by  the  hand  of  Moses  released  them  finally 

37 


434  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Pai;t  XV. 

and  forever  from  the  Egyptian  yoke,  and  united  them  to 
Moses  in  subordination  to  his  mediatorial  authority.  "  They 
beheved  the  Lord  and  his  servant  Moses." — Ex.  xiv,  31. 
This  is  viewed  by  the  apostle  as  a  figure  of  the  "work  of 
grace  by  which  the  people  of  Christ  are  released  from  Satan's 
bondage  and  brought  under  his  saving  scepter;  and  he, 
therefore,  uses  the  same  form  of  expi^essiou,  '*  Baptized  into 
Christ,"  "Baptized  into  Moses." 

The  style  in  which  the  real  baptism  is  thus  spoken  of 
is  a  key  to  the  meaning  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  his  language 
concerning  the  ritual  ordinance.  The  visible  church  is  the 
representative  and  type  of  that  invisible  body  of  Christ,  the 
members  of  which  are  incorporated  therein  by  the  baptism 
of  the  Spirit.  Baptism  with  water  is  a  symbol,  merely,  of 
that  spiritual  grace.  The  recipient  may  be  truly  united  to 
the  Lord  Jesus.  But  such  union  is  not  produced  by  the 
ritual  ordinance.  The  eifect  can  ascend  no  higher  than 
the  cause.  A  symbolic  baptism  can  accomplish  no  more 
than  a  symbolic  union,  a  union  in  outward  semblance  and 
name.  Its  ground  is  profession  of  the  name  of  Christ,  and 
the  characteristic  designation  of  those  who  have  received 
it  is,  — that  they  "have  named  the  name  of  Christ" — (2 
Tim.  ii,  19),  that  is,  they  have  professed  to  take  hold  of 
his  covenant,  and  have  thereupon  had  his  name  named 
upon  them.  They  are  Christ's.  If,  therefore,  baptism 
"  into  Christ"  by  the  Spirit,  means  spiritual  union  with 
Christ,  and  with  his  invisible  body,  then,  manifestly,  bap- 
tism with  water  ^^  into  the  name  of  Christ "  can  mean  noth- 
ing else  but  ritual  identification  with  his  name,  and  with 
that  visible  body  which  is  known  by  his  name,  and  em- 
braced by  profession  in  the  bonds  of  his  covenant.  To 
effect  such  union  is  all  that  Christ's  ministers  can  do.  It 
is  what  they  are  commissioned  to  do.  The  rest  remains 
with  the  Great  Baptizer  himself.  Intimately  related  to  this 
subject  is  that  remarkable  word  of  God  which  instructed 
Aaron  and  his  sons  to  bless  Israel  with  that  threefold  ben- 


Sec.  XC]  BAPTIZING  INTO  THE  NAME.  435 

ediction  which  is  believed  to  refer  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
glorious  Trinity.  "The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee. 
The  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious 
unto  thee.  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee, 
and  give  thee  peace," — and  then  adds, — "  And  theij  shall 
'piii  my  name  upon  the  children  of  Israel,  and  /  will  bless 
them."— Num.  vi,  23-27. 

The  form  of  expression  used  by  the  Lord  Jesus, — ''  hap- 
tizing  them  into  the  name,"  is  a  perpetual  rebuke  of  every 
doctrine  or  pretense  which  would  attribute  to  the  rite,  in 
itself,  any  higher  or  other  efficacy  than  that  of  changing 
the  outward  and  professed  relation  of  the  baptized  to 
Christ  and  the  Godhead.  The  view  here  presented  is 
further  involved  in  the  relation  between  baptism  and  dis- 
cipleship,  intimated  in  the  words  of  Jesus, — "Disciple  all 
nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name."  Christ  came  as 
the  revealer  of  the  Godhead,  the  Prophet  of  Israel,  as  well 
as  her  royal  Priest.  The  preaching  of  the  gospel  is  the  ful- 
fillment of  his  prophetic  function,  and  those  whether  Jews 
or  Gentiles,  who  accept  it  are  to  be  enrolled  as  disciples  of 
Christ,  by  being  baptized  into  the  name  or  profession  of 
the  faith  of  the  triune  Godhead,  as  revealed  by  him,  in 
the  gospel.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  translation  in- 
variably given  to  the  phrase  in  question,  in  our  common 
Euglish  vci-sion,  entirely  fails  of  exhibiting  a  true  idea  of 
the  meaning  of  the  original.  See  Matt,  xxviii,  19 ;  Acts 
viii,  16;  xix,  5;  1  Cor.  i,  13,  15.  Baptizing  "m  the 
name,"  can  only  mean,  dispensing  the  rite  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  Persons  named.  The  command  is,  to  "bap- 
tize into  the  name." 

2.  "The  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost."  In  other  places,  baptism  is  said  to  be 
"into  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." — Acts  ii,  38;  viii, 
16 ;  xix,  5.  Nor  are  the  other  Persons  of  the  Godhead 
ever  mentioned  in  such  connection  with  the  real  baptism. 
That  is  always  described  as  being  into  Jesus  Christ.     Rom. 


436  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

vi,  3 ;  1  Cor.  xii,  13,  27 ;  Gal.  iii,  27.  How  is  this  di- 
versity of  expression  to  be  explained  ?  It  is  abundantly 
plain,  as  respects  the  real  baptism.  In  it,  each  Person  is 
signally  present,  in  appropriate  relation.  In  it,  Christ,  the 
Eoyal  Administrator,  by  whom  the  Spirit  is  poured  out, 
is  also  the  Head  into  which  by  that  one  Spirit  all  are  bap- 
tized as  members.  The  Spirit  appears  as  the  Spirit  of  life 
in  Christ  Jesus,  the  Renewer  and  Sanctifier.  And  as  to 
the  Father,  "  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  God,  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus ;  for  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized 
into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ." — Gal.  iii,  26,  27.  "As 
many  as  received  him  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believed  on  his  name." — 
Jno.  i,  12.  In  a  word,  thus  is  fulfilled  the  petition  of 
Jesus.  "As  thou  Father  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee,  that 
they  also  may  be  one  in  lis.  ...  J  in  them  and  iiiou  in 
me,  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one." — John  xvii, 
21,  23.  By  the  real  baptism,  therefore,  the  believer  is 
united  to  each  Person  of  the  Godhead, — a  fact,  neverthe- 
less, expressed  by  baptism  into  one,  Jesus  Christ. 

The  same  principle  governs  the  forms  of  expression 
used  with  reference  to  ritual  baptism.  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
"Word  of  God,  and  can  not  be  truly  apprehended  except  in 
that  relation.  "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time.  The 
only  begotten  Son  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he 
hath  declared  Him." — John  i,  18.  He  came  to  make 
known  the  Father.  He  returned  to  impart  the  Spirit. 
And,  as  he  was  thus  apprehended  by  the  apostles,  a  bap- 
tism into  his  name  was  a  baptism  into  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Spirit.  It  only  ceases 
to  be  so,  when  Jesus  ceases  to  be  appreciated  as  him  in 
whom  "  dwelleth  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily." — 
Col.  ii,  9. 

It  is  an  illustration  of  the  essential  deficiency  of  the 
theory  of  immersion  that  it  has  no  explanation  for  the  di- 
versity of  expression  here  considered. 


Sec.  XCL]  ''HE  THAT  BELIEVETW  437 

Section  XCI. — "-He  that  helieveth  and  is  baptized." 
In  the  great  commissiou,  as  recorded  by  Mark,  Jesus 
said  to  his  disciples,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized  shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned." — Mark  xvi,  15,  16.  Dr.  Dale  denies  that  ritual 
baptism  is  here  referred  to. — "  We  accept  the  real  baptism 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  sole  baptism  directly  contem- 
plated by  the  passage ;  in  general,  because  it  meets  in  the 
most  absolute  and  unlimited  manner,  as  a  condition  of  sal- 
vation, the  obvious  requirement  on  the  face  of  the  passage, 
having  the  same  breadth  with  belief,  and  universally  pre- 
sent in  every  case  of  salvation."*  To  this  view  the  objec- 
tions are  obvious  and  conclusive.  (1.)  The  clause  which 
the  author  has  emphasized  with  Italics,  is  inaccurate.  The 
baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  "a  condition  of  salva- 
tion;" but  is  the  very  salvation  itself.  It  is  the  casket  in 
which  are  bestowed  repentance,  faith,  remission  of  sins, 
justification,  adoption,  sanctification,  the  resurrection  and 
eternal  life.  (2.)  The  interpretation  would  not  only  make 
this  baptism  a  condition  of  salvation,  but  puts  it  in  the  po- 
sition of  a  co-ordinate  but  secondary  condition  with  faith. — 
"  He  that  helieveth  and  is  baptized."  Whereas  faith,  as 
just  remarked,  is  one  of  the  immediate  phenomena  of  this 
baptism.  (3.)  The  text  as  thus  explained  represents  the 
Lord  Jesus  as  commissioning  his  ministers  to  offer  salvatioi; 
to  sinners  iipon  conditions  one  of  which  is  to  be  performed 
by  them ;  but  the  other  belongs  to  his  own  peculiar  pre- 
rogative, to  which,  in  no  circumstances,  can  they  assume 
an  efficient  relation.  It  interprets  tlie  message  to  be 
preached  thus:  "Whoever  believeth  shall  be  saved;  pro^ 
vided  I,  Jesus,  shall  see  fit  to  baptize  him  !" 

The  text  is  a  statement  to    the  apostles,  and   througn 
them  to  the  ministry  in  all  ages,  of  their  duties  and  the 

*  Christie  Baptism,  p.  393. 


438  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part    XV. 

results  of  their  labors.  With  baptism  as  a  ritual  ordinance 
of  the  gospel  they  had  been  familiar  from  the  beginning 
of  John's  ministry,  and  of  Christ's  in  coincidence  ^Yith  it. 
They  had  been  fully  instructed,  as  to  the  baptism  of  the 
Spirit,  which  Christ  was  about  to  dispense,  and  which  they 
were  to  await ;  and  as  to  the  typical  relation  to  it  which 
the  ritual  ordinance  sustained.  They  are  now  commanded 
to  go  forth  and  preach  that  gospel ;  not,  as  heretofore,  to 
Israel,  only,  but  to  every  creature,  in  all  the  world;  and 
whereas,  until  now,  none  could  be  baptized, — none  could 
receive  the  token  of  the  covenant,  except  those  who  were, 
by  circumcision,  identified  with  Israel  after  the  flesh, — he 
indicates  the  removal  of  that  restriction, — "Go  teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them."  Baptizing  them  with  water, 
which,  only,  they  could  administer;  and  in  token  of  that 
profession  of  faith,  of  which  only  they  could  take  cogni- 
zance. It  is  in  view  of  these  things,  that  the  declaration 
is  made,  "He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ; 
but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  The  repetition 
shows  that  the  emphasis  of  the  passage  rests  on  believing. 
"  You  are  to  preach,  and  baptize  those  "vvho  profess  to  be- 
lieve. But  let  all,  both  preachers  and  hearers,  beware  of 
trusting  in  the  baptismal  shadow.  He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized,  shall  be  saved.  But  he  that  believeth  not, — his 
baptism  will  not  avail, — He  shall  be  damned."  Assuredly, 
had  the  Lord  Jesus  been  stating  conditions  of  salvation,  as 
concerning  baptism,  he  knew  how  to  set  it  on  both  sides 
of  the  alternative. 

Section  XCII. — The  Formula  of  Baptism. 

It  is  proper  and  necessary  that  such  words  be  used  in 
the  administration  of  Baptism,  as  shall  give  an  intelligent 
announcement  of  the  nature  and  intent  of  the  ordinance. 
For  this  purpose  nothing  can  be  more  appropriate  than  the 
formula  in  universal  use,  in  all  the  churches.  But  the 
question  arises  whether  the  words  thus  employed  were  given 
to  be  uttered  as  a  formula  necessary  to  the  rite. 


Sec.  XCII.]  THE  FORMULA   OF  BAPTISM.  439 

1.  There  is  uotbiug  whatever  iu  the  language  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  oii  the  subject,  to  give  couutenauce  to  the  sug- 
gestion in  question.  "Go  ye,  and  disciple  all  nations, 
ba2)tizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  We  have  already 
seen  that  "  baptizing  into  the  name"  means,  not  the  utter- 
ance in  the  baptism  of  any  words  or  formula ;  but  instruc- 
tion and  consecration  to  the  faith  and  service  of  the  Triune 
God,  identified  with  the  baptismal  rite  and  signified  by  it. 
But  if  such  be  the  meaning  of  our  Savior's  words,  it  ex- 
cludes the  idea  in  question.  "Baptizing  them  into  the 
name,"  then,  means  something  very  different  from  "utter- 
ing the  name."  In  fact,  the  more  carefully  the  language 
in  question  is  examined,  in  itself,  in  its  immediate  connec- 
tion, and  in  its  relation  to  the  general  scope  of  the  gospel 
and  its  history,  the  more  evident  will  it  appear  that  it  was 
not  words  that  were  present  to  the  mind  of  Jesus,  or  by 
him  put  into  the  mouths  of  his  ministry,  but  the  great 
doctrine  of  baptism,  in  which  the  whole  gospel  is  summed, — 
that  doctrine  which  was  heralded  by  the  baptist,  and  ex- 
pounded by  the  Lord  Jesus  in  his  discourse  and  prayer  at 
the  supper.  One  who  should  teach  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  not  a  coequal  Person  of  the  Godhead,  or  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  is  not  the  eternal  and  coequal  Son,  might  administer 
the  rite,  in  the  use  of  the  formula.  Yet  would  it  not  be 
baptism  in  the  intent  of  Jesus  as  here  set  forth. 

2.  The  silence  of  all  of  the  evangelists  except  Matthew 
as  to  the  words  in  question,  is  wholly  inconsistent  with  the 
supposition  that  they  were  given  as  a  formula.  The  im- 
portance of  the  rite  is  of  common  agreement.  And  resting 
as  it  does  as  an  obligation  on  every  soul  that  hears  the 
gospel,  it  is  the  first  and  foremost  of  all  the  practical  du- 
ties of  those  who  receive  it.  If,  therefore,  the  formula 
was  now  given  as  an  element  in  the  administration  of  the 
ordinance,  it  is  of  the  first  and  universal  moment.     How 


440  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

then  is' it  possible  for  three  of  the  evangelists  to  have  ig- 
nored it,  in  their  several  versions  of  the  gospel.  Evidently 
they  attached  to  it  no  such  significance 'as  obtains  with 
those  who  hold  it  as  of  the  essence  of  baptism. 

3.  The  fact  that  it  is  not  once  used  or  alluded  to,  in 
the  whole  subsequent  history  and  epistles,  is  conclusive. 
Those  records  are  a  testimony; — as  much  by  silence,  often, 
as  by  utterance.  But,  on  this  subject,  they  are  not  silent. 
On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Peter  calls  upon  the  inquirers  to 
be  baptized  "(epi)  for  the  name's  sake  of  Jesus  Christ.'* — 
Acts  ii,  38.  The  Samaritans  and  the  twelve  disciples  of 
John  at  Ephesus  were  baptized  "into  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus." — Acts  viii,  16;  xix,  5.  And  Paul  distinctly 
implies  that  the  Corinthians  were  baptized  into  the  same 
name.  "Is  Christ  divided?  was  Paul  crucified  for  you? 
or,  were  ye  baptized  into  the  name  of  Paul?" — 1  Cor.  i, 
13.  How  these  facts  are  consistent  with  obedience  to 
Christ's  command  we  have  already  seen.  The  only  inter- 
pretation w^hich  will  harmonize  the  record  is  deduced  from 
that  doctrine  of  baptism  which  has  been  unfolded  in  these 
pages.  He  that  is  spiritually  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ, 
thereby  receives  the  Spirit  and  is  united  in  Christ  to  the 
Father.     He  is  baptized  into  the  Three. 

Here,  the  doctrine  of  immersion  is  radically  defective. 
The  form  may  be  administered  with  the  utterance  of  the 
names  of  the  Trinity.  But  its  doctrine  contains  no  testi- 
mony to  the  Triune,  nor  recognition  of  any  Person  of  the 
Godhead.  It  relates  altogether  to  the  humanity  of  Christ, 
whose  burial  it  represents. 

Section  XCIII. — The  Administration  on  Pentecost. 

On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  in  reply  to  the  cry  of  the 
repentant  multitude, — "What  shall  we  do?"  Peter  said, 
"Kepent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  (epi  to  'ono- 
mati),  for  the  name's  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  (eis)  unto  the  re- 
mission of  sins;  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 


Sec.  XCIII.]  THE  RITE  ON  PEKTECOST.  441 

Ghost.  For  the  promise  is  to  you,  aod  to  your  children, 
and  to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our 
God  shall  call.  .  .  .  Then,  they  that  gladly  received  his 
word  were  baptized;  and  the  same  day  there  were  added 
unto  them  about  three  thousand  souls." — Acts  ii,  37-41. 
Dr.  Dale  denies  this  baptism  to  have  been  ritual,  and 
demands, — "Was  there  a  visible  Christian  church  in  exis- 
tence at  Pentecost?  Was  there  any  one  competent  to 
organize  a  Christian  church  before  Pentecost?  Did  not 
the  divine  Head  of  the  church  himself  furnish  the  mate- 
rials for  a  church  organization,  officers,  and  members,  '  that 
day?'  Was  there  a  Christian  organization  effected,  as  well 
as  a  tri-millenary  baptism  administered  '  that  day?'  Were 
they  organized  and  then  baptized,  or  baptized  and  then 
organized?"*  These  questions,  coming  with  the  authority 
of  the  learned  writer,  are  entitled  to  respectful  considera- 
tion. And  although  they  have,  in  effect,  been  answered, 
already,  a  few  words  will  here  be  added,  in  direct  response. 
The  Jewish  church,  as  organized,  according  to  the  law  of 
Moses,  under  the  ministry  of  the  elders,  was  the  Christian 
church,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  But  as  that  church  had 
become  largely  corrupt  and  apostate,  and  its  rulers  had 
betrayed  and  crucified  the  Lord  Jesus,  her  King,  a  separa- 
tion had  become  necessary,  and  the  preaching  and  baptism 
of  the  apostles  was  the  means  a2:>pointed  by  Him  for  elim- 
inating the  apostate  elements.  The.  one  hundred  and 
twenty  who  remained  together  in  Jerusalem  after  the 
ascension  were  but  a  small  part  of  believing  Israel,  even 
then ;  for  the  Lord  Jesus  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred 
brethren  at  once,  after  his  resurrection.  (1  Cor.  xv,  6.) 
But  they,  or  the  apostles  alone,  or  one  of  them,  would 
have  been  abundantly  sufficient  as  a  center  for  gathering 
the  believing  from  among  the  apostate.  They  stood  pre- 
cisely as  did  Moses  in  the  midst  of  the  congregation  of 
Israel,  at  the  time  of  the  apostasy  of  the  golden  calf,  say- 
*  Dale's  Christie  Baptism,  p.  102. 


442  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

ing, — "Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side?  Let  him  come  unto 
me." — Ex.  XXX ii,  26.  Hence  the  style  in  which  the  histo- 
rian of  the  Acts  writes  of  the  converts  of  Pentecost. 
"Then  they  that  gladly  received  his  word,  were  baptized; 
and  the  same  day  there  were  added  about  three  thousand 
souls." — Acts  ii,  41.  They  are  not  said  to  have  been 
"added  to  the  church;"  for  they  were  the  church,  obeyiug 
the  call  of  her  Head, — "  Come  out  from  among  them,  and 
be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean 
thing." — 2  Cor.  vi,  17.  They  are,  therefore,  said  to  have 
been  "added  (to  them)," — that  is,  to  the  apostles;  or  more 
literally  "associated  together," — joined  in  one  body.  By 
that  act,  they  stood  forth,  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  di- 
vested of  the  unbelieving  elements.  Accordingly,  we  read, 
immediately  after,  that  "the  Lord  added  to  the  church 
daily  such  as  should  be  saved." — Vs.  47.  For  all  the  pur- 
poses of  the  occasion,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  there  was 
no  farther  organization  necessary  than  that  which  existed 
in  the  sanhedrim  of  the  apostles,  men  inspired  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  endowed  by  the  Lord  Jesus  with  author- 
ity for  presiding  over  his  church  in  this  transition  period 
of  her  history. 

The  baptism  of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  has 
been  already  illustrated  fully.  That  there  was  also  a  rit- 
ual baptism,  with  w^ater,  I  venture  to  regard  as  equally 
certain.  (1.)  We  have  just  seen  that  the  apostolic  com- 
mission contained  a  command  to  baptize  the  disciples. 
Peter,  therefore,  in  inviting  his  hearers  to  repent  and  be 
baptized,  was  simply  following  the  literal  terms  of  his  in- 
structions. And  had  he  omitted  baptism, — that  ritual 
baptism  which  alone  the  apostles  could  administer — ^he 
would  have  been  acting  in  direct  violation  of  his  commis- 
sion. (2.)  In  his  exhortation,  the  baptism  is  secondary  to 
repentance.  This  is  the  proper  order  of  ritual  baptism, 
which  is  predicated  on  profession  of  repentance.  But  it  is 
the  reverse  as  to  the  real  baptism,  which  precedes  repent- 


Sec.  XCIII.]  THE  RITE  OX  PENTECOST.  443 

ance  aud  is  its  cause.  (3.)  The  language  used  in  describing 
the  result  of  the  exhortation  is  conclusive. — "Then  they 
that  gladly  received  his  word  were  baptized."  The  glad  re- 
ception of  the  word  is  stated  as  the  antecedent  ground  of 
receiving  the  baptism;  the  reverse,  again,  of  the  order  in 
real  bai)tism.  (4.)  In  the  case  of  Cornelius  aud  his  house, 
Peter  based  their  baptizing  with  water  upon  the  fact  that 
the  spiritual  phenomena  were  identical  with  those  of  the 
day  of  Pentecost.  "The  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  them  as  on 
us  at  the  begiuuing." — "  Can  any  man  forbid  the  water, 
that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  which  have  received  the 
Holy  Ghost,  as  well  as  we?" — Acts  x,  47;  xi,  15.  This 
argument  would  have  been  wholly  inappropriate  had  there 
been  no  water  baptism  on  Pentecost. 

But  Dr.  Dale  urges  another  objection. — "  AVhile  the 
reception  of  these  thousands  that  day  into  the  church  by 
dipping  into  water,  is  improbable  to  absurdity,  for  reasons 
both  moral  and  physical,  their  reception  by  any  ritual  form 
whatever,  is,  for  moral  considerations  mainly,  not  without 
embarrassment.  These  thousands  were  all  personally  stran- 
gers to  the  ai^ostles,  mostly  from  foreign  lands,  Parthians, 
Medes,  Elamites,  Mesopotamians,  Cretes,  Arabians,  etc. 
An  hour  before,  they  were  mockers  of  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  declared  the  apostles  to  be  drunk.  Now, 
is  there  moral  fitness  in  the  reception  of  such  men  into  the 
church,  by  a  rite  without  any  personal  intercouree,  to  learn 
their  moral  condition?  But  the  passage  states  that  the 
baptism  was  grounded  in  the  '  glad  reception  of  the  word' 
preached.  If  the  baptism  was  the  work  of  the  apostles, 
then  this  knowledge  must  also  be  the  knowledge  of  the 
apostles ;  and  if  so,  then  it  must  have  been  obtained,  either 
by  divine  illumination,  or  by  personal  intercourse  touching 
repentance  and  faith,  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  the  duty 
of  baptism  ;  then,  how  could  the  addition  of  three  thousand 
be  made  *  that  day?'"^'    The  theory  that,  the  baptism  here 

*'*  Christie  Baptism,"  p.  158. 


444  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

in  question  was  spiritual  and  not  ritual,  is,  here,  self- 
condemned,  by  the  statement  which  truly  represents  it  to 
have  been  ' '  grounded  in  the  glad  reception  of  the  word 
preached."  That  word  was,  "Repent  and  be  baptized." 
Its  glad  reception,  therefore  is  equivalent  to  the  exercise  of 
repentance,  which  is  the  immediate  fruit  of  the  spiritual 
baptism,  and  therefore  of  necessity  follows,  but  can  not 
precede  it.  The  baptism,  therefore,  which  was  "grounded 
in  the  glad  reception  of  the  word,"  can  have  been  no  other 
than  ritual  baptism.  The  fundamental  fallacy  of  the  argu- 
ment lies  in  the  assumption,  which  we  have  before  noticed, 
that  the  Pentecostal  transactions  were  incident  to  the  organ- 
izing of  a  new  church ;  instead  of  beiug,  as  we  have  shown, 
the  separating  of  the  existing  church  from  the  corrupt  and 
ungodly  elements  which  had  taken  possession  of  it. 

It  is  asserted  respecting  the  three  thousand  that,  "an 
hour  be-fore,  they  were  mockers  of  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  A  kindred  statement  is  frequently  heard,  in  illus- 
tration of  the  fickleness  of  the  multitude, — that  those  who 
yesterday  filled  the  air  with  shouts -of  "  Hosanua !"  to-day 
cry,  "Away  wdth  him."  Both  representations  are  errone- 
ous, and  tend  to  obscure  the  true  state  of  the  case.  In  the 
Pentecostal  scene,  there  were  "some"  mockers,  and  possi- 
bly, nay,  probably  some  of  these  w^ere  made  trophies  of 
grace  that  day.  But  to  represent  the  assembly  as  char- 
acteristically of  that  class,  involves  an  utter  misconception 
of  the  case  as  expressly  stated  by  the  sacred  historian.  He 
represents  them  as  "  Jews,  demui  men,  out  of  every  nation 
under  heaven." — Acts  ii,  5.  It  was  they,  who  came  throng- 
ing to  the  assembly  of  the  apostles.  It  was  characteristically 
they  who  gladly  received  the  word  and  were  baptized.  Nor 
is  the  language  of  Peter  to  them  incongruous  to  this  view. 
"  Him  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands,  have  crucified 
and  slain." — v.  23.  Their  rulers  had  done  it,  and  the 
whole  people  were  responsible  and  polluted  with  the  crime 
of  his  blood,  until  they  purged  themselves,  by  separation 


Sec.  XCIII.]  THE  RITE  ON  PENTECOST.  445 

and  baptism.  So,  the  multitude  who  cried,  "  Hosauna!"  were 
"  the  multitude  of  the  disciples,"  from  Galilee.  (Luke  xix, 
37  ;  compare  lb.  xxii,  59.)  For  fear  of  the  people,  the  con- 
spirators seized  Jesus  by  betrayal,  by  night ;  and  the  cry 
against  him  was  uttered,  at. the  instigation  of  the  rulers 
and  priests,  by  their  retainers  and  dependents.  (Mark  xv, 
11.)  ''It  was  early,"  when  they  brought  Jesus  before  Pi- 
late. (John  xviii,  28.)  And  it  is  probable  that  the  sen- 
tence was  already  passed  and  Jesus  in  the  hands  of  the  ex- 
ecutioners, before  the  Cialileaus  who  were  accustomed,  at 
the  feasts,  to  encamp  on  Olivet,  had  any  knowledge  of  the 
fearful  tragedy  of  that  day.  These  facts  are  all  of  import- 
.ance,  in  order  to  a  just  conception  of  the  real  nature  of 
the  separation  which  began  in  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  and  ultimately  extended  throughout  Judea,  Gal- 
ilee, and  Samaria,  and  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  where  a 
synagogue  of  the  Jews  was  to  be  found.  We  do  no  serv- 
ice to  the  truth,  by  underestimating  the  number  of  those 
who  in  that  day,  w-ere  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel, 
and  "gladly  received  the  w^ord"  of  the  rising  of  the  Sun 
of  righteousness,  in  the  person  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

From  the  foregoing  considerations,  w^e  conclude  it  to  be 
certain  that  the  three  thousand  converts  of  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost were  baptized  with  water.  The  order  of  occurrences, 
as  it  appears  from  the  record  was  this:  The  preaching  of 
Peter  was  accompanied  with  the  promised  power,  the  bap- 
tism of  the  Spirit  being  bestowed  upon  his  hearers,  by  the 
Lord  Jesus.  By  that  baptism  was  given  to  them  repent- 
ance and  remission  of  sins.  (Acts  v,  31.)  Upon  their 
correspondent  profession,  they  were  baptized  with  w^ater ; 
and  thereupon,  they  received  the  gifts  of  tongues  and  of 
pfophecy,  in  fulfillment  of  the  promise  of  Christ  (Mark 
xvi,  17),  and  in  accordance  with  the  assurance  given  them 
by  Peter; — "Repent  and  be  baptized,  and  ye  shall  re- 
ceive the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  the  promise  is  to 
you  and  to  your  children," — the  promise,  to  Avit,  which  he 


446  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

had  before  quoted  from  Joel,  in  explanation  of  the  Pente- 
costal signs. 

Section  XCIV. — Symbolic  Meaning  of  this  Baptism. 

The  rite  of  immersion  is  inseparably  identified  with  the 
theory  that  ritual  baptism  is  designed  to  symbolize  the 
burial  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  By  the  advocates  of  this  theory, 
the  baptism  administered  to  the  converts  of  Pentecost  is 
held  to  have  been  the  original  of  the  institution.  By  all, 
that  baptism  must  be  recognized  as  a  most  conspicuous  and 
normal  exemplification  of  the  rite.  We  are  perfectly  willing 
to  stake  the  whole  issue  upon  the  question  of  the  symbolic 
meaning  of  the  ordinance,  as  determined  by  the  Scriptural  ^ 
statements  concerning  that  baptism. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Old  Testament  baptisms 
symbolized  the  gift  from  on  high  of  the  Spirit  of  life  from 
God.  We  have  seen  that  John  administered  his  baptism 
as  an  announcement  and  symbol  of  that  which  the  coming 
One  should  dispense, — the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
We  have  heard  the  Lord  Jesus  appropriate  to  himself  the 
testimonies  of  John,  and  promise  their  fulfillment,  in  terms 
by  which  the  baptism  to  be  administered  by  him  was  dis- 
tinctly identified  as  the  antitype  of  that  of  John.  "  John 
truly  baptized  with  water,  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  w^ith 
the  Holy  Ghost." — Acts  i,  5.  We  have  seen  the  promise 
fulfilled,  and  heard  the  testimony  of  Peter,  that  therein 
was  accomplished  the  prophecy  of  Joel, — a  prophecy  in 
which  and  the  kindred  language  of  the  other  prophets,  the 
baptisms  of  the  Old  Testament  were  so  clearly  interpreted. 
We  have  seen  that  his  baptizing  office  was  the  great  end 
of  Christ's  exaltation,  and  the  consummate  function  of  his 
scepter, — that  by  which  he  begins,  carries  on,  and  accom- 
plishes the  salvation  and  the  glory  of  his  people ;  and  that 
this,  his  exaltation  and  saving  power,  were,  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  preached  as  the  express  ground  of  the  call  to 
repent  and  be  baj^tized,  for  his  name's  sake.     In  view  of 


Skc.  xciv.]  the  meaning  of  it.  447 

these  facts,  how  is  it  possible,  by  argument  or  by  sophistry, 
to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  ritual  baptism  to  which 
Peter's  hearers  were  thus  called,  was  designed  to  signify 
that  real  baptism  with  which  it  was  thus  so  closely  identi- 
fied ?     But  the  evidence  is  more  specific. 

1.  The  sum  and  substance  of  the  preaching  of  John 
and  of  Jesus  was  the  same,  and  reported  by  the  evangelists 
iu  the  same  words: — "  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand." 

2.  In  both  cases,  this  preaching  was  accompanied  with 
a  ritual  baptism,  which  was  as  identical  as  was  the  preach- 
ing. Else,  have  we  a  house  divided  against  itself, — the 
one  doctrine,  attested  by  two  rival  rites,  which,  under  one 
and  the  same  name,  competed  for  acceptance  with  the  Jews! 

3.  Of  this  baptism,  Paul  says,  that  *' John  verily  bap- 
tized with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  peo- 
ple, that  they  should  believe  on  Him  which  should  come 
after,  that  is  on  Christ  Jesus." — ^Acts  xix,  4.  Of  it,  Mark 
and. Luke  state  that  "John  did  baptize  in  the  wilderness 
and  preach  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of 
sins." — Mark  i,  4;  Luke  iii,  3.  And  John  himself  de- 
clares,— "I  indeed  baptize  you  with  water,  unto  repent- 
ance :  but  He  .  .  .  shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  with  fire." — Matt,  iii,  11.  It  thus  appears  that  this 
baptism  was  identified  with  a  doctrine  the  cardinal  elements 
of  which  are  (1)  repentance,  and  (2)  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus ; 
as  the  conditions  precedent ;  and  (3)  the  remission  of  sins,  as 
the  result.  These  were  what  the  ordinance  meant.  From 
them  it  took  its  name, — "The  baptism  of  repentance  for 
the  remission  of  sins." 

4.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost,  this,  precisely,  was  the 
preaching  and  baptism  of  Peter.  "Repent,  and  be  bap- 
tized every  one  of  you,  for  the  name's  sake  of  Jesus  Christ, 
unto  the  remission  of  sins." — Acts  ii,  38. 

5.  Peter  had  already  proclaimed  that  the  Lord  Jesus, 
"  being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  re- 


448  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

ceived  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  hath 
shed  forth  this,  which  ye  now  see  and  hear." — lb.  33. 
A  few  days  afterward,  he  explained  more  precisely  to  the 
rulers,  the  significance  of  this  great  fact. — "  Him  hath  God 
exalted  with  his  right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour, 
for  to  give  to  Israel  repentance  and  (aphesin  Jmmartidn)  re- 
mission of  sins." — lb.  V,  31. 

From  these  things  it  irrefragably  follows,  (1)  that 
whereas,  Christ's  baptizing  office  is  fulfilled  by  shedding 
down  his  Spirit  upon  his  people,  the  baptisms  of  John  and 
the  disciples  prior  to  the  day  of  Pentecost,  as  well  as  that 
administered  by  Peter  and  the  twelve  on  that  day,  were 
all  proclaimed  symbols  of  this  the  great  reality  ;  (2)  that, 
while  the  intent  and  end  of  Christ's  baptism  is,  through 
the  bestowal  of  the  Spirit,  to  give  repentance,  faith,  and 
the  remission  of  sins — the  other  baptisms  and  conspicuously, 
that  of  the  apostles  on  Pentecost,  were  designed  to  signify 
and  bear  witness  to  that  very  thing.  Not  only  are  these 
conclusions  manifest  and  incontrovertible ;  but  by  them 
and  the  facts  on  which  they  rest  the  idea  of  the  burial  of 
Christ,  as  included  in  the  symbolism  of  baptism,  is  not 
merely  ignored,  but  utterly  excluded,  as  incongruous  and 
unmeaning,  in  that  connection. 

This  impregnable  conclusion  is  further  fortified  by  the 
fact  already  shown,  that  in  this  meaning  of  the  rite  and 
in  it  only  can  be  reconciled  the  two  forms  of  expression, 
"  Baptizing  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost;"  and, — ^' into  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."  Baptism  shows  forth  the  Triune  Godhead 
united  in  the  salvation  of  man,  and  uniting  the  saved  with 
that  blessed  Godhead. 

Section  XCV.  —  TJw  Mode  of  the  ritual  Baptism  on  Pentecost. 

As  to  the  mode  of  the  baptism  of  that  day  the  evidence 
is  not  doubtful.  The  assembled  throng  were  "Jews,  de- 
vout men  out  of  every  nation," — men  whose  clierished  faith 


Skc.  XCV.]  the  mode  on  PENTECOST.  449 

and  hopes  all  centered  on  Moses  and  the  covenant  made 
and  sealed  with  their  fathers  at  Sinai.  The  baptismal  seal 
of  that  covenant,  perpetuated  in  tlie  sprinkled  water  of 
separation,  was  familiar  to  them  everywhere.  They  were 
conversant  with  the  prophecies  which  assured  them  that 
in  the  latter  days  God  would  "sprinkle  clean  water  upon 
them," — that  the  Messiah  would  "  sprinkle  many  nations," 
and  **  pour  out  of  his  Spirit  upon  all  flesh."  They  are 
now  told  by  the  apostles  that  these  prophecies  are  announce- 
ments of  the  baptizing  office  of  the  Lord  Jesus, — that  he, 
being  by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and  having  re- 
ceived of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  had, 
in  the  exercise  of  his  baptizing  office,  shed  forth  this, 
which  they  saw  and  heard.  And,  in  response  to  their 
penitent  cry,  they  are  required  to  be  "baptized  for  the 
name's  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Is  it  possible  to  avoid 
the  conclusion  that  the  baptism  thus  propounded  was  the 
sprinkled  baptism  which  was  familiar  to  them  all  ?  Or,  are 
we  to  accept  the  opposite  assumption?  Then  must  Peter 
have  explained  to  the  multitude. — "  Our  fathers,  at  Sinai, 
were  sealed  to  the  covenant  with  the  sprinkled  blood  and 
water.  In  all  generations  of  our  race,  the  same  seal  has 
been  familiar,  in  the  same  office ;  as  it  is,  this  day,  to  you. 
The  prophets  have  explained  the  affusion  of  water  as  be- 
ing a  symbol  of  the  official  work  of  the  Messiah.  In  that 
office  and  work,  the  reality  of  the  Sinai  rite  is  to-day  ful- 
filled. And  now,  ye  are  to  be  baptized  into  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus;  but  with  another-  baptism, — a  baptism 
dislocated  from  all  relation  to  the  past, — a  baptism  severed 
from  all  analogy,  even,  or  association  of  ideas  with  that  of 
the  Spirit,  which  is  this  day  dispensed  by  the  Lord  Jesus. 
He  baptizes  by  outpouring;  but  ye  must  be  dipped.  He 
baptizes  by  a  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit,  of  which,  in  the 
prophecies,  and  in  the  baptisms  of  our  fathers,  living  water 
was  the  constant  symbol;  but  to  you,  dipped  in  that  living 
water,   it  is  to  become  the  symbol   of  the  sepulchre  of 

38 


450  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

Joseph,  in  which  the  body  of  Jesus  was  laid.  His  bap- 
tism gives  repentance  and  remission  of  sins;  and  the  bap- 
tism to  be  received  by  you  might  seem  to  mean  this  very 
thing ;  for  it  is  conditioned  upon  repentance  and  is  '  unto 
remission.'  But  it  means  not  that;  but  the  burial  of  the 
dead  body  of  Jesus." 

And  now,  where  shall  the  water  be  found,  for  the  im- 
mersion of  these  thousands  ?  And  by  what  miracle  shall  the 
rite  be  performed,  "  decently  and  in  order,"  within  the  hours 
of  that  day?  For,  not  only  is  the  record  specific,  which 
limits  the  time, — but  the  supposition  of  a  delay  implies  the 
encumbrance  of  after  time,  of  which  each  day  had  its  own 
duties  and  labors,  its.  own  converts  and  baptisms.  It  is 
demonstrably  possible  for  the  twelve  apostles  to  have  bap- 
tized the  entire  multitude  by  sprinkling  in  the  ordinary 
manner  in  which  we  administer  the  rite  within  four  or  five 
hours.  But  such  was  not,  as  I  conceive,  the  manner  of  the 
administration.  .  No  mere  rite  could  without  disparagement 
endure  such  repetition  for  hour  after  hour.  The  reitera- 
tion must  obscure  and  obliterate  the  spiritual  significance 
of  the  rite.  The  attention  of  the  witnesses  would  become 
exhausted  and  diverted,  and  the  monotony  of  the  form 
would  inevitably  become  a  weariness  and  an  offense.  By 
such  a  manner  of  observance,  the  very  intent  of  the  ordi- 
nance would  be  lost,  and  this  as  much  in  one  form,  as  in 
another. 

But  we  are  not  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  encounter- 
ing these  obvious  embarrassments.  We  have  seen  the  mil- 
lions of  Israel  baptized  by  Moses,  in  the  hours  of  one  morn- 
ing, they  receiving  the  rite  either  collectively  in  one  body, 
or  by  tribe-families  or  tribes.  It  is  very  probable  that  this 
was  the  manner  in  which  the  rite  was  ordinarily  adminis- 
tered by  John  to  the  throngs  that  attended  on  his  ministry, 
and  by  the  disciples  of  Christ,  when  he  "made  and  bap- 
tized more  disciples  than  John."  The  Jews  were  fiimiliar 
with  the  use  of  the  hyssop  bush  as  appointed  in  the  law, 


Skc.  xcvl]      the  mode  in  other  cases.  451 

for  adniiuisteriug  the  rite.  There  was  nothiug  in  the  na- 
ture of  the  ordinance,  nor  in  the  circumstances  cf  the  oc- 
casion, to  render  inappropriate  or  improbable  a  resort  to 
that  mode.  On  the  contrary,  every  consideration,  of  con- 
venience, of  dignity,  propriety  and  edification,  united  to 
commend  it  as  the  most  suitable  way,  the  water  being 
s})rinkled  with  a  hyssop  bush,  and  the  recipients  of  the 
rite  presenting  themselves  in  companies  of  suitable  size,  by 
scores  or  by  hundreds.  Thus  was  set  forth  by  a  joint  bap- 
tism the  doctrine  of  Paul.  "By  one  Spirit  are  we  all 
baptized  into  one  body." — 1  Cor.  xii,  13. 

Such  is  the  conclusion  to  which  the  analogy  of  the 
Scriptures  points.  Such,  I  doubt  not,  was  the  form  of 
administration  that  day.  For  the  present  purpose,  how- 
ever, this  much  is  clear  and  sufficient, — that  the  record 
of  Pentecost  contains  nothing  incongruous  to  the  previous 
history  and  doctrine  of  baptism, — that  on  the  contrary, 
the  Spirit-baptism  of  that  day  and  all  the  circumstances, 
concur  to  the  same  conclusion  which  the  foregoing  history 
indicates.  ^^ Not  immersion;  hut  affusion" — is  the  unambig- 
uous voice  of  Pentecost. 

Section  XCVI. — Other  Cases  Illustrating  the  Mode. 

The  next  case  that  illustrates  the  mode,  is  the  baptism 
of  the  eunuch.  "As  they  went  on  their  way,  they  came 
unto  a  certain  water.  And  the  eunuch  said,  See,  here  is 
water,  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized?  .  .  .  And  he 
commanded  the  chariot  to  stand  still;  and  they  went  down 
both  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch,  and  he 
baptized  him.  And  when  they  were  come  up  out  of  the 
water." — Acts  viii,  36-39.  To  what  has  been  said  already 
concerning  this  passage,  one  or  two  points  only  need  be 
added.  Dr.  Dale  has  pointed  out  the  fact  that  the  verb 
(Icatebesan) ,  "they  went  down,"  has  primary  reference  to 
the  chariot,  out  of  which  they  descended.  He  refers  to 
the   Septuagint   of  Judges   iv,   15,    "And   Sisera   (Icatebe) 


452  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

stepped  down  from  his  chariot;"  and  to  Matt,  xiv,  29, — 
"Peter  (Icatahas)  stepping  down  from  the  boat  walked  on 
the  water,  to  go  to  Jesus."  The  essential  point,  however, 
is  that  the  descent  was  not  the  baptism, — that,  with  the 
style  of  clothing,  then  as  now,  worn  in  the  east,  nothing 
would  have  been  more  natural  and  convenient  than  that 
they  should  have  stepped  into  the  water,  as  the  most  con- 
venient Avay  of  access,  even  though  the  baptism  was  to  be 
performed  by  sprinkling  or  pouring.  "The  place"  (perioche, 
the  section),  which  the  eunuch  was  reading,  begins  with 
Isa.  lii,  13,  and  includes  the  w^hole  of  liii.  It  is  a  contin- 
uous prophecy  of  the  Messiah,  under  the  designation  of 
God's  servant.  In  the  fifty-third  chapter,  down  to  the 
eleventh  verse  the  pronoun  "/ie"is  used  to  designate  the 
subject  of  the  account.  It  refers  back  to  lii,  13,  to  which 
we  must  look  for  the  theme  of  the  prophecy.  "Behold 
my  servant  shall  deal  prudently."  When,  therefore,  the 
eunuch  read  liii,  7,  8, — "He  w^as  led  as  a  sheep  to  the 
slaughter,"  and  asked,  "Of  whom  speaketh  the  prophet 
this?"  Philip  must  of  necessity  hav€  turned  back  to  the 
beginning  of  the  section,  for  the  answer.  In  so  doing,  he 
finds  this  among  the  first  things  said  of  the  person  de- 
scribed:— "As  many  were  astonied  at  thee,  his  visage  was 
so  marred  more  than  any  man,  and  his  form  more  than 
the  sons  of  men,  .  .  .  so  shall  he  8prin/cZe  many  nations." — lii, 
14,  15.  This  prophecy,  thus  coinciding  with  that  of  Joel, 
which  was  the  text  of  Peter's  Pentecostal  discourse,  could 
not  be  overlooked  by  Philip,  in  his  instructions  to  the  eu- 
nuch. The  latter,  although  himself  a  Jew,  was  identified 
with  a  Gentile  nation.  He  was  chamberlain,  or  treasurer, 
to  Candace,  the  queen  of  Meroe,  in  upper  Egypt.*  The 
prophecy,  therefore,  "So   shall  he  sprinkle  many  nations" 

*  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  vi,  35)  states  this  kingdom  of  which 
Meroe,  on  an  island  in  the  Nile,  was  the  chief  city,  to  have 
been  "  now  for  a  long  time,"  governed  bj"-  queens,  who  trans- 
mitted to  each  other  the  name  of  Candace. 


Sec.  XCVL]         THE  MODE  IN  OTHER  CASES.  453 

could  not  fail  to  arrest  his  attention  and  elicit  the  story 
of  Pentecost,  as  the  beginning  of  redemption  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. That,  with  Christ's  baptizing  office  brought  thus  into 
view,  his  ordinance  concerning  ritual  baptism  should  be 
announced,  was  not  only  a  necessary  result  of  the  circum- 
stances, but  was  an  essential  part  of  that  office  which 
Philip  was  to  perform.  "Disciple  all  nations,  baptizing 
them."  In  favor  of  the  hypothesis  that  the  eunuch  was 
immersed,  there  is  nothiug  but  the  fact  that  they  went 
down  to,  or  into  the  water.  On  behalf  of  his  being 
sprinkled,  is  the  explicit  testimony  of  the  prophet  as  to 
the  manner  of  the  real  baptism,  of  which  the  ritual  ordi- 
nance is  the  symbol. 

2.  The  baptism  of  the  apostle  Paul  next  presents  itself. 
Of  it  we  have  two  brief  accounts  which  are  mutually  sup- 
plementary. (Acts  ix,  10-20;  xxii,  12-16.)  After  his 
vision  of  Jesus,  on  the  way,  he  had  lain  for  three  days  in 
the  house  of  Judas,  in  Damascus,  blind,  fasting  and  pros- 
trate. To  him  Ananias  was  sent  and  said  to  him — "And 
now,  why  tarriest  thou  ?"  Why  liest  thou  thus  prostrate 
and  desponding?  "  Arise,  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away 
thy  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord." — Acts  xxii,  16. 
Literally  "(^vios^os,  baptisai,  kai  apolusai),  Rising,  he  bap- 
tized, and  let  thy  sins  be  washed  away,  calling  upon  the  name 
of  the  Lord,"  Says  Alexander,  "Be  baptized,  is  not  a  pas- 
sive, as  in  ii,  38,  but  the  middle  voice  of  the  same  verb, 
strictly  meaning,  '  baptize  thyself,'  or,  rather,  '  cause  thy- 
self to  be  baptized,'  or  suffer  (some  one)  to  baptize  thee. 
The  form  of  the  next  Terb  [apolusai']  is  the  same,  but  can 
not  be  so  easily  expressed  in  English ;  as  it  has  a  noun  de- 
pendent on  it.  This  peculiarity  of  form  is  only  so  far  of 
importance  as  it  shows  that  Paul  was  to  wash  away  his 
sins  in  the  same  sense  that  he  was  to  baptize  himself;  i.  e, 
by  consenting  to  receive  both  from  another.  As  his  body 
was  to  be  baptized  by  man ;  so,  his  sins  were  to  be  washed 
away  by  God.    The  identity,  or  even  the  inseparable  union, 


454  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

of  the  two  eftects,  is  so  far  from  being  here  afBrmed,  that 
they  are  rather  held  apart,  as  things  connected  by  the  nat- 
ural relation  of  type  and  antitype,  yet  perfectly  distin- 
guishable in  themselves,  and  easily  separable  in  experi- 
ence."* The  exhortation,  "Let  thy  sins  be  washed  away," 
is  intimately  dependent  upon  the  next  clause, — "calling 
upon  the  name  of  the  Lord." — Calling  not  as  a  mere  rev- 
erential invocation ;  nor  as  a  mere  profession  or  act  of  faith. 
But  "calling  on  him  to  purge  away  thy  sins  with  the  wash- 
ing of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  and 
accepting  the  baptism  of  water  as  the  symbol  and  pledge 
of  the  other." 

Li  the  parallel  account,  it  is  stated  that  "he  received 
sight  forthwith  Qmi  anastas,  ehaptisthe)  and  rising  up,  ivas 
baptized" — Acts  ix,  18.  Thus,  in  both  of  these  accounts, 
the  same  form  of  expression  is  used  as  to  the  manner  of 
the  baptism, — a  form  which  indicates  that  the  administra- 
tion was  immediate,  upon  his  rising  from  his  couch.  "  Ris- 
ing up,  be  baptized."  "  And  he,  rising  up,  was  baptized." 
In  the  original,  the  force  of  the  expressions  is  even  stronger, 
to  the  same  effect.  The  circumstances  coincide  with  this 
interpretation.  The  prostration,  resulting  from  the  vision  by 
the  way,  from  the  blindness,  and  the  three  days  in  which'  he 
was  "  without  sight,  and  neither  did  eat  nor  drink"  (Acts  ix, 
9),  must  have  been  very  great ;  and  it  was  not  until  after  his 
baptism  that  "he  received  meat  and  was  strengthened." — 
lb.  19.  There  is  no  intimation  of  leaving  the  place.  There 
is  no  word  of  such  preparation  as  an  immersion  would  re- 
quire. But  the  whole  case  stands  in  the  expression  twice 
employed,  from  which  but  one  meaning  can  be  deduced, — 
that  he  was  baptized  immediately,  in  his  chamber,  as  he 
rose  from  his  couch,  and  stood  before  Ananias.  Whatever 
the  mode,  it  can  not  have  been  immersion. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  Paul's  baptism  was  not  ritual 
but   spiritual.     The    supposition  is  encumbered  with  the 

*  Alexander,  in  loco.  \ 


Sec.  XCVL]         THE  MODE  m  OTHER  CASES,  455 

same  difficulties  which  attend  the  like  idea  respecting  the 
baptism  of  Pentecost.  The  occasion  of  Ananias  being  sent 
to  him  was  the  fact  attested  by  the  Lord  Jesus, — "  Behold 
he  prayeth." — Prayer  so  attested  lacked  neither  repentance 
nor  faith.  He  had,  therefore,  already  received  the  baptism 
of  the  Spirit, — that  is  his  renewing  grace ;  although  not  his 
miraculous  gifts.  Moreover,  the  baptism  Avhich  he  received 
in  his  chamber  was  something  to  which  the  ministry  of 
Ananias  was  requisite,  and  for  which  his  rising  from  his 
couch  was  preparatory.  None  of  these  thiugs  harmonize 
with  the  idea  that  it  was  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Nor  was  it  implied  in  the  language  of  Ananias, — "That 
thou  mightest  receive  thy  sight  and  be  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost." — Acts  ix,  17.  With  this  is  to  be  compared  the 
previous  statement  concerning  him,  made  in  vision  by  Jesus 
to  Ananias,  "  He  hath  seen  in  a  vision  a  man  named  Ana- 
nias coming  and  jyuiiiwj  his  hand  upon  him,  that  he  might 
receive  his  sight." — lb.  12.  It  was  through  the  laying  on 
of  the  hands  of  Ananias  that  Paul's  sight  was  restored  and 
the  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  conferred  upon  him. 
Such  was  the  ordinary  manner,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
of  the  imparting  of  those  gifts ;  which  w^as  undoubtedly  the 
nature  of  the  present  endow^ment  of  Saul  of  Tarsus. 

3.  The  baptism  of  the  house  of  Cornelius  is  equally 
unfavorable  to  the  idea  of  immersion.  (Acts  x,  44-48.) 
The  words  of  Peter  admit  of  but  one  construction.  "Can 
any  man  forbid  (to  udor)  the  water;  that  these  should  not 
be  baptized." — Acts  x,  47.  We  have  already  pointed  out 
that  this  language  means  that  the  water,  as  an  instrument, 
was  to  be  brought  to  the  place,  in  order  to  the  baptism. 
Moreover,  the  baptism  of  this  company,  thus,  with  water, 
Avas  by  Peter  expressly  predicated  upon  the  fact  that  they 
had  been  already  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  his 
outpouring  upon  them.  "The  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  all 
them  which  heard."  "On  the  Gentiles  also  was  pcmred 
out  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."     "  Can  any  man  forbid 


456  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM,  [Part  XV. 

the  water,  that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  which  have 
received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we?" — Acts  x,  44,  45,  47. 
And  lest  there  should  be  any  possible  doubt  about  the 
meaning  of  all  this,  Peter  explains  himself  to  the  church 
in  Jerusalem, — "  Then  remembered  I  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
how  that  he  said,  John  indeed  baptized  with  w'ater,  but  ye 
shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost." — lb.  xi,  16.  Here 
again  the  facts  are  decisive  m  favor  of  afiusion. 

4.  The  Philippian  jailer  and  his  family  are  the  only  re- 
maining iustance  in  which  illustrative  circumstances  are 
recorded.  (Acts  xvi,  25-34.)  As  bearing  upon  the  mode, 
these  are,  that  at  midnight,  in  the  jail,  upon  his  professed 
repentance  and  faith,  the  jailer  was  baptized,  "he  and  all 
his  straightway." — Acts  xvi,  33.  This  too  was  before  he 
had  taken  Paul  and  Silas  out  of  the  jail  proper,  into  his 
own  apartments.  The  impossibility  of  the  rite,  administered 
in  such  circumstances,  having  been  immersion,  would  seem 
evident.  Nor  is  it  admissible,  as  proposed  by  Baptist 
writers,  to  suppose  that  the  jailer  and  his  family  with  the 
prisoners  went  out  to  the  river  and  were  there  immersed. 
The  suggestion  is  not  only  contradicted  by  the  record, 
which  describes  the  baptism  as  having  been  (parachrema) 
*'  straightway,"  with  neither  time  nor  action  intervening. 
But  it  would  have  been  an  act  of  official  dereliction,  in- 
volving peril  to  the  jailer's  life,  and  rendering  the  message 
of  Paul  to  the  magistrates,  the  next  day,  an  impudent  pre- 
tence. They  sent  the  sergeants  to  the  jailer,  saying,  "Let 
these  men  go."  "But  Paul  said  unto  them,  They  have 
beaten  us  openly,  uncondemned,  being  Komans,  and  have 
cast  us  into  prison.  And  now  do  they  thrust  us  out  pri- 
vily? Nay,  verily,  but  let  them  come  themselves  and 
fetch  us  out." — lb.  37.  Is  this  the  language  of  men  who 
had  already  stolen  out  of  the  prison,  by  night? 

We  have  thus  passed  in  review  every  instance  of 
Christian  baptism  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  in 
which  any  particulars  are  given.     The   only  other  cases 


Skc.  XCVII.]  baptized  into  MOSES.  457 

named  are  the  Samaritans  (Acts  viii,  12,  13,  15),  Lydia 
(lb.  xvi,  15),  the  Corinthians  (lb.  xviii,  8;  1  Cor.  i,  14-17), 
and  the  twelve  disciples  of  John  at  Ephesus  (Acts  xix, 
1-5).  Of  them  we  are  only  informed  that  they  were  bap- 
tized. As  to  the  cases  which  we  have  examined  it  is  cer- 
tainly remarkable  and  significant  that  with  the  exception 
of  the  eunuch,  they  each  present  physical  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  immersion,  serious  if  not  insurmountable ;  and  that 
in  the  excepted  case,  the  utmost  that  can  be  said  is,  that 
nothing  appears  to  render  immersion  physically  impossible ; 
while  the  connection  of  the  occasion  points  distinctly  to  a 
sprinkled  baptism. 

The  cumulative  argument  arising  out  of  these  baptisms 
is  overwhclmiug.     They  can  not  have  been  by  immersion. 

Section  ^CYU.— ''Baptized  into  Moses" 

The  baptism  of  Israel  into  Moses,  is  pertinent  here,  as 
illustrating  the  apostolic  style  of  conception  and  language 
on  the  subject.  "All  our  fathers  were  under  the  cloud, 
and  all  passed  through  the  sea ;  and  w^ere  all  baptized  (eis) 
into  IMoses,  (en)  by  the  cloud  and  (eii)  by  the  sea." — 1  Cor. 
X,  1,  2. 

AVc  have  already  seen  the  typical  relation  which  Moses 
and  Israel,  and  the  covenant  with  them  sustained  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  and  the  true  Israel,  and  the  better  covenant, 
as  expounded  by  Paul  to  the  Hebrews.  The  language  here 
cited  from  the  same  apostle  derives  its  form  from  the  same 
conception.  Israel  in  the  bondage  of  Egypt, — Moses  sent 
to  them  as  a  deliverer, — the  passage  out  of  the  land  of 
bondage,  through  the  Ked  Sea, — the  destruction  of  Pharaoh 
in  the  sea  and  the  cutting  off  thus  of  Israel  from  all  de- 
pendence or  subjection  to  him, — their  consequent  faith  in 
Moses  and  submission  to  his  authority, — the  covenant  made 
with  them  through  him  as  Mediator, — their  nourishment 
in  the  wilderness  on  the  bread  of  heaven,  and  the  water 
from  the  Eock, — and  their  final  passage  through  the  Jor- 


458  CHRISTIAN"  BAPTISM.  [Part  XV. 

dan  and  entrance  into  the  promised  land, — are  the  elements 
of  a  typical  system  the  antitypes  of  which  are  to  be  sought, 
not  in  the  visible  church  and  its  ritual  ordmauces,  but  in 
Christ  and  his  body,  the  invisible  church,  and  the  spiritual 
and  heavenly  realities  which  it  enjoys.  According  to  this 
conception,  the  "  baptism  into  Moses"  finds  its  antitype  in 
the  baptism  into  Christ,  by  which  his  people  are  emanci- 
pated from  the  bondage  of  Satan  and  brought  under  the 
yoke  of  Christ.  And  as  that  baptism  is  instrumentally 
accomplished  by  the  Spirit,  whereby  they  all  are  baptized 
into  one  body  of  which  Christ  is  the  Head,  so  the  baptism 
of  Israel  was  instrumentally  eifected  "  hy  the  cloud  and  hy 
the  sea ;"  they  being  by  the  cloud  protected  from  the  Egyp- 
tians and  directed  through  the  receding  sea;  while  *' the 
Lord  looked  unto  the  host  of  the  Egyptians,  through  the 
pillar  of  fire  and  of  the  cloud,  and  troubled  the  Egyptians, 
and  took  off  their  chariot  Avheels,"  and  the  returning  sea 
swallowed  them  up. — Ex.  xiv,  23-28.  Here  was  an  im- 
mersion. But  it  was  of  the  Egyptians.  Here  was  a  bap- 
tism,— of  the  children  of  Israel, — into  Moses, — not  into 
water, — not  into  cloud,  or  sea  or  both  together.  There 
were  not  two  baptisms,  but  one,  and  in  order  to  make  it 
an  immersion  "in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,"  the  baptism 
"into  Moses"  must  be  obliterated.  The  Baptist  figment 
which  we  have  seen  stated  by  Dr.  Kendrick,  of  the  "double 
Avail  of  water  rolled  up  on  each  side,  and  the  column  of 
fiery  cloud  stretchiug  its  enshrouding  folds  aboA^e  them,"  is 
not  merely  an  idle  imagination.  But  it  is  an  imagination 
in  direct  and  palpable  contradictioii  to  the  record  of  Moses. 
The  Israelites  Avere  indeed  under  the  cloud.  But  it  Avas  he- 
fore  they  entered  the  sea,  and  not  during  their  march  through 
it.  "The  Angel  of  God  Avhich  Avent  before  the  camp  of 
Israel,  removed  and  AA^ent  behind  them  ;  and  the  pillar  of 
the  cloud  AA^ent  from  before  their  fkce,  and  stood  behind 
them.  And  it  came  between  the  camp  of  the  Egyptians 
and  the  camp  of  Israel ;  and  it  Avas  a  cloud  and  darkness 


Sec.  XCVIL]  BAPTIZED  INTO  MOSES,  459 

to  them ;  but  it  gave  light  by  night  to  these ;  so  that  the 
one  came  not  near  the  other  all  the  night.  And  Moses 
stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  sea  .'  .  .  and  the  waters 
were  divided.  And  the  children  of  Israel  went  into  the 
midst  of  the  sea." — Ex.  xiv,  19-22.  Thus,  before  the  sea 
was  divided,  Israel  were  "  under  the  cloud,"  as  it  passed 
back  from  their  front,  to  become  an  intercepting  barrier 
between  them  and  the  pursuing  host.  But,  during  the 
march  through  the  sea,  the  cloud  was  between  the  two 
hosts,  and  not  ''enshrouding"  Israel  above.  Thus,  as  by 
the  touch  of  Ithuriel's  spear,  the  figment  of  immersion 
vanishes  in  the  presence  of  the  word  of  truth,  and  in  its 
stead  appear  the  ransomed  tribes  marching  upon  the  sands 
between  walls  of  water,  miles  apart,  the  open  heavens 
above  them  and  the  cloud  moving  as  a  protecting  curtain, 
in  their  rear.  The  attempt  to  find  immersion  here,  is  futile. 
That  the  preposition,  en,  is  rightly  here  translated,  %, 
as  indicating  the  instrumental  cause,  in  the  baptism,  is 
illustrated  by  an  example  a  little  farther  on  in  the  same 
epistle.  "-Bi/  one  Spirit,  are  we  all  baptized  into  one 
body." — 1  Cor.  xii,  13.  Here,  Christ  is  the  Baptizer,  the 
Spirit  is  the  instrument,  and  union  with  Christ  and  his 
body  the  result.  So,  of  Israel,  Jehovah  was  the  Baptizer, 
the  cloud  and  the  sea  were  the  instruments,  and  union  with 
Moses  the  result.  Just  before,  they  had  been  in  a  state  of 
open  mutiny.  (Ex.  xiv,  11, 12.)  But  now,  says  the  record, 
"  the  Lord  saved  Israel  that  day  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
Egyptians;  and  Israel  saw  the  Egyptians  dead  upon  the 
sea-shore.  And  Israel  saw  that  great  work  which  the  Lord 
did  upon  the  Egyptians,  and  the  people  feared  the  Lord, 
and  believed  the  Lord  and  his  servant  Moses." — lb.  30, 
31.  Their  changed  state  of  mind  was  attested  by  the  song 
of  their  triumph  which  rang  out  over  the  unconscious  and 
now  peaceful  waters.  "Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  he  hath 
triumphed  gloriously;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he 
thrown  into  the  sea." — lb.  xv,  1-21.     Thus  have  we  a  sig- 


460  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  [Paut  XV. 

nal  example  of  such  a  change  of  state  or  experience  as 
even  Dr.  Conant  admits  to  have  been  designated  by  the 
word,  baptizo.  From  under  the  power  and  fear  of  Pharaoh, 
they  came  into  the  trust  and  obedience  of  Moses.  They 
were  "  baptized  into  Moses."  The  only  intimation  of  in- 
strumental mode  in  this  baptism,  to  be  found  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, occurs  in  the  Psalmist's  vivid  description  of  the 
scene.  "The  clouds  poured  out  water,  the  skies  sent  out 
a  sound,  thine  arrows  also  went  abroad.*' — Ps.  Ixxvii,  17. 


Sec.  XCVIII.]        CHRIST  AND  THE  CHILDREN.  461 


Part  XVI. 

THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  CHILDREN.     . 

Section  XCVIII. — Chrui  aiid  the  Children. 

AT  this  stage  of  our  inquiry,  we  note  the  following 
points  which  have  important  bearings  upon  the  rela- 
tion of  the  children  to  the  church.  (1.)  We  have  seen 
that,  in  the  establishing  of  the  covenant  with  Abraham, — 
the  promises  of  which  were  blessings  to  the  natural  off- 
spring of  the  patriarch,  and  through  them,  salvation  to 
the  world, — its  seal  was  set  upon  all  the  males  of  his  house- 
hold,— through  whom  the  descent  was  to  be  counted, — at 
the  age  of  eight  days.  (2.)  We  have  seen  that  in  the  Si- 
nai covenant,  by  which  in  fulfillment  of  the  promises  to 
Abraham,  the  church  was  constituted  in  the  family  of 
Israel,  the  same  fundamental  principles  of  family  unity 
and  parental  headship  were  recognized  and  incorporated  in 
the  constitution  of  the  church ;  and  that  in  accordance 
therewith,  the  children  and  bondservants,  both  male  and 
female,  were  included  in  its  terms,  with  the  family  head ; 
endowed  with  all  its  rights  and  privileges ;  bound  under  its 
responsibilities;  and  sealed  with  its  baptismal  seal.  (3.) 
We  have  seen  that  it  was  into  this  church,  as  thus  con- 
stituted and  existing,  and  without  change  in  its  constitu- 
tional principles,  or  form  of  organization,  that  through  the 
ministry  of  the  apostles,  the  Gentiles  were  graffed ;  thus 
fulfilhng  the  promise  to  Abraham,  that  in  his  seed  should 
all  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed;  a  promise  fulfilled 
not  only  in  salvation  accomplished  through  the  promised 
Seed  of  Abraham,  but  in  the  reception  thus  of  the  Gen- 
tiles into  the  bosom  of  the  church  of  Israel. 


462  THE  HOUSEHOLD.  [Part  XVI. 

It  now  remains  to  be  ascertained  whether  there  is  any 
thing  in  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  as  set  forth  in  the 
New  Testament,  in  the  practical  rules  therein  recorded,  or  in 
the  facts  of  its  history,  to  require  or  justify  the  extruding 
of  the  children  from  the  place  and  privileges  hitherto  en- 
joyed ; — whether  there  is  any  thing  to  lead  us  to  the  con- 
clusion ihat  the  coming  of  Christ  has  straitened  the  grace 
of  God,  and  withdrawn  from  the  babes  of  us  Gentiles  that 
privilege  of  acceptance  which  was  enjoyed  by  the  little 
ones  of  Israel,'  from  the  day  of  the  covenant  at  Sinai. 

1.  As  the  place  of  the  children  was  originally  conferred 
and  secured  by  express  statute  and  repeated  enactments  of 
confirmation,  we  have  a  right  to  expect  the  abrogation 
of  the  privileges  thus  established  to  be  accomplished  in 
terms  as  specific  and  imperative  as  were  the  laws  by  which 
they  were  conferred.  But  no  one  has  ever  pretended  to 
produce  such  a  statute  of  abrogation.  Confessedly  the  New 
Testament  is  absolutely  silent  as  to  such  an  act, — a  silence 
fatal  to  the  theories  which  deny  a  place  to  the  babes  in 
the  family  of  God. 

2.  The  facts  and  principles  set  forth  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment supply  no  argument  for  the  exclusion  of  the  children. 
First,  is  that  touching  incident  which  is  recorded  with 
more  or  less  fullness  in  each  of  the  synoptical  gospels.  In 
reply  to  the  question  who  of  the  apostles  should  be  greatest 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  Jesus,  being  in  a  house  in 
Capernaum, — probably  in  the  house  of  one  of  them,  sev- 
eral of  whom  lived  there, — he  "called  a  little  child  unto 
him  and  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them," — "and  (eiutghalis- 
amenos)  having  folded  it  in  his  arms,  he  said  unto  them," 
"  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Except  ye  be  converted,  and  be- 
come as  little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Whosoever,  therefore,  shall  humble  himself  as 
this  little  child,  the  same  is  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  And  whoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  in 
my  name  receiveth  me." — Matt,  xviii,  1-5  ;  Mark  ix,  36 ; 


Skc.  XOVIII.]      CHRIST  AXD   THE  CHILDREiV.  4G3 

Luke  ix,  46-48.  With  tliis  is  to  be  connected  that  kindred 
fixct  wliich  occurred  a  few  days  afterward,  and  is  also  re- 
corded in  each  of  the  three  synoptical  gospels.  ''Then 
were  there  brought  unto  him  little  children,  that  he  should 
put  his  hands  on  them  and  pray  ;  and  the  disciples  rebuked 
them.  But  Jesus  said,  Suffer  little  children  and  forbid 
them  not  to  come  unto  me ;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  And  he  laid  his  hands  on  them,  and  departed 
thence." — Matt,  xix,  13-15.  Mark  and  Luke  add  that  he 
Said,  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  whosoever  shall  not  receive 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  not  enter 
therein.  And  {enagkalisamenos)  folding  them  in  his  arms,  he 
put  his  hands  upon  them,  and  blessed  them." — Mark  x, 
13-16 ;  Luke  xviii,  15-17.  Of  these  little  children,  Luke 
tells  us  that  they  were  (brephe)  babes.  That  these  incidents 
in  the  life  of  our  Savior  were  of  special  significance  is  indi- 
cated by  the  fact  that  they  are  both  given  by  each  of  the 
evangelists,  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke.  As  to  their  mean- 
ing,— (1.)  These  children  all  were,  at  the  time,  actual  mem- 
bers of  that  visible  kingdom  of  God  the  church  of  Israel, 
in  the  bosom  of  which  Jesus  himself  lived  and  died.  (2.) 
That  church  was  the  type  and  representative  of  the  invis- 
ible church  and  kingdom.  (3.)  Of  all  members  of  the  vis- 
ible church,  Jesus  selects  the  little  child  of  the  first  inci- 
dent and  the  babes  of  the  second,  as  the  fittest  types  or 
representatives  of  the  temper  and  spirit  which  will  have 
admittance  and  honor  in  the  heavenly  kingdom,  (4.)  He 
was  much  displeased,  that  his  disciples  should  attempt  to 
prevent  their  being  brought,  in  their  unconsciousness  and 
helplessness,  into  his  personal  presence,  for  recognition  and 
a  blessing  from  him.  (5.)  Both  the  child  in  the  house,  and 
the  babes  brought  to  him,  he  folded  in  his  arms,  and  upon 
the  latter  he  laid  his  hands  and  blessed  them.  He  was  the 
great  Shepherd,  as  himself  testifies, — "I  am  the  good 
Shepherd." — John  x,  11.  Of  him  the  prophet  wrote, — 
"  He  shall  gather  the  lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them 


464  THE  HOUSEHOLD.  [Pakt  XVI. 

in  his  bosom." — Isa.  xl,  11.  And  we  ask, — Cau  auy  one 
venture  to  deny  that,  by  these  acts,  so  distinctly  referring 
to  the  prophecy,  Jesus  designed  to  recognize  and  claim  the 
babes  as  lambs  of  his  fold?  As  before  remarked,  these 
babes  were  undeniably  members  of  the  church,  at  the  time 
of  these  occurrences.  If  the  Lord  Jesus  desigued  to  leave 
them  in  undisturbed  possession  of  the  rights  and  privileges 
heretofore  enjoyed,  with  his  benediction  added  thereto, 
all  this  is  clear  and  intelligible.  But,  if  they  were  to 
be  deprived  and  excluded,  how  are  these  things  to  be 
reconciled  ? 

Another  incident,  in  circumstances  even  more  signifi- 
nlficant,  presents  itself.  After  his  resurrection,  Jesus  met 
with  his  disciples  at  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  "  When  they  had 
dined,  Jesus  saith  to  Simon  Peter,  Simon,  son  of  Jonas, 
lovest  thou  me  more  than  these?  He  saith  unto  him,  Yea, 
Lord;  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee.  He  saith  unto  him, 
Feed  my  lambs." — John  xxi,  15.  Peter  was  present  in 
the  house  in  Capernaum,  when  Jesus  took  the  child  in  his 
arms.  Nay,  it  is  not  improbable  that  it  was  Peter's  house, 
and  Peter's  child.  He  was  present  when  the  babes  were 
brought  for  blessing,  and  saw  and  heard  all  that  then  oc- 
curred. He  was  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews, — the  chief 
apostle  of  the  circumcision.  When  he  received  this  charge 
from  the  Master,  in  which  were  commended  to  his  love 
and  care,  jir^i,  the  lambs,  and  afterward  the  sheep ;  and 
when  he  pondered  this  charge  and  legacy,  in  the  light  of 
the  fifteen  centuries  during  which  the  place  of  the  children 
had  been  unquestioned  and  unquestionable,  and  in  remem- 
brance of  those  demonstrative  facts  whicli  he  had  seen  and 
heard, — would  he  understand  it  as  implying  a  command  to 
purge  and  renovate  the  fold,  by  the  exclusion  of  the  lambs? 
And  when,  a  few  days  after,  or,  possibly  on  this  very 
same  occasion,  he  as  the  apostle  through  whom  the  doors 
of  the  gospel  wxre  to  be  opened  to  the  Gentiles,  with  the 
rest,  received  that  great  command, — "Go  disciple  all  na- 


Sec.  XCVIIL]     CHRIST  AND  THE  CHILDREN.  465 

tions,  baptizing  them," — are  we  to  conceive  it  possible  that 
he  understood  it  to  mean  that  he  must  be  very  tender  of 
the  Jewish  lambs,  bringing  them  into  the  fold  and  school 
of  Christ,  but  must  drive  out  the  children  of  the  Gentiles 
as  unclean? 

3.  Under  the  ministry  of  the  apostles,  the  Gentiles 
were  called  and  graffed  into  the  church  of  Israel.  In  the 
church,  thus  constituted  as  already  shown,  some  congrega- 
tions were  composed  of  Jews  alone,  some,  of  Gentiles,  and 
some,  of  the  two  classes  associated  together;  but  in  them 
all  Jewish  influences  were  pervasive  and  paramount.  Now, 
is  it  to  be  imagined  that  without  a  word  of  command  from 
Christ  or  the  apostles,  the  Jewish  behevers  would  unani- 
mously, gratuitously,  and  in  silence,  surrender  the  place  of 
their  children  in  the  church,  just  at  the  moment  when  the 
privileges  thereto  incident  had  become  so  much  more 
manifest,  by  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  the  brightness,  by 
his  rising,  shed  upon  the  gospel  day  ?  And  even  if  such  a 
thing  could  be  imagined  possible,  what  else  would  it  have 
been  but  a  wicked  apostasy  and  rejection  of  the  grace  given 
them?  But,  that  no  such  apostasy  did  take  place,  is  as- 
suredly testified  by  the  silence  of  the  record,  and  by  all 
the  circumstances.  That,  in  the  churches  of  the  circum- 
cision, and  among  Jewish  believers  everywhere,  the  children 
occupied  their  old  status  is  beyond  controversy  or  question. 
Of  this,  their  circumcision  is  of  itself  conclusive  proof. 
And  as,  from  the  days  of  Abraham,  that  rite  certified 
them  seed  of  the  patriarch  and  heirs  of  the  promises, — 
and  at  Sinai  they  were  introduced,  by  baptism,  into  the 
pale  of  the  church  and  the  privileges  of  that  covenant, — 
so  their  continued  enjoyment  alike  of  the  privileges  and  the 
seals  must  stand  forever  certain,  till  some  prophet  shall 
arise  to  tell  us  when,  and  how,  and  for  what  cause,  they 
were  divested  of  rights  once  bestowed  by  Him  whose  "gifts 
and  callings  are  without  repentance." 

And  if,  by  a  special   clause  in  the  very  covenant  of 


466  THE  HOUSEHOLD.  [Part  XVI. 

Sinai  itself,  grace  to  the  Gentiles  was  reserved,  in  har- 
mony with  abundant  grace  to  Israel,  the  baptism  of  Israel's 
babes  into  the  fold  of  that  covenant,  that  day,  was  a  fore- 
tokening and  pledge  of  the  same  grace  to  the  children  of  the 
Gentiles,  when  the  times  of  the  Gentiles  shall  have  come. 
They  are  not  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  therefore  receive 
not  the  seal  of  his  covenant  in  their  flesh.  But  baptism  is 
theirs, — the  seal  of  the  Sinai  covenant,  in  which,  now,  the 
rights  of  the  Gentiles  are  equal.  *'For  there  is  no  differ- 
ence between  the  Jew  and  the  Greek :  for  the  same  Lord 
over  all  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him." — Rom.  x,  12. 

Section  XCIX. — "^/se  were  your  Children  unclean  hut  noiv 
are  they  Holy." 

We  have  the  express  testimony  of  inspiration,  to  the 
children's  right  witbin  the  pale  of  the  church.  Says  Paul 
to  the  Corinthians, — "The  unbelieving  husband  is  sancti- 
fied by  the  w^ife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is  sanctified  by 
the  husband.  Else  were  your  cbildren  unclean;  but  now 
are  they  holy." — 1  Cor.  vii,  14.  The  significance  of  this 
declaration,  as  concerning  the  children,  depends  upon  the 
meaning  of  the  words,  unclean  (akathartoi) ,  and  holy  (Jiagioi), 
Both  of  them  come  into  the  New  Testament,  from  the  Sep- 
tuagint  version  of  the  Old.  In  the  Greek  of  that  version, 
the  word  (alcathartos)  does  not  appear  in  the  books  of  Mo- 
ses until  we  come  to  the  laws  of  ritual  uncleanness  and 
purifying,  which  have  been  so  largely  discussed  in  these 
pages.  Then,  beginning  with  the  fifth  chapter  of  Levit- 
icus, it  occurs  in  that  book  in  about  eighty-seven  places,  in 
all  of  which  it  designates  the  ritually  unclean ;  being  ap- 
plied alike  to  things  and  persons.  In  Numbers  and  Deu- 
teronomy, it  appears  about  thirty  times,  in  the  same  sense. 
In  the  entire  Old  Testament,  the  word  is  used  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  times  ;  and  with  the  exception  of  half  a 
dozen  passages  in  which  it  indicates  the  moral  ofiensiveness 
of  sin,    it    is    invariably   employed   in   one  and  the  same 


Sec.  XCIX.]  YOUR  CHILDREN  HOLY.  467 

sense, — to  designate  persons  and  things  that  by  virtue  of 
ritual  defilements  were  excluded  from  the  pale  of  the  cov- 
enant and  the  sanctuary.  If  we  add  to  this  the  related 
noun  (akatharsia)  the  force  of  these  considerations  is  greatly 
increased.  It,  in  like  manner,  first  occurs  in  Leviticus,  as 
the  designation  of  the  uncleannesses  which  were  described 
by  the  adjective  (akathartos) ,  unclean.  It  occurs  about  fifty 
times,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  in  which  it  describes  the 
vileness  of  sin,  is  constantly  used  in  the  ritual  sense. 

The  other  word  (Jiagios)  holy,  has  a  history  and  meaning, 
equally  clear  and  well  defined.  It  has  primary  reference 
to  the  sum  of  the  divine  perfections,  in  view  of  which  God 
is  designated,  the  Jioly  One.  Thence,  it  is  transferred  to 
designate  those  moral  attributes  in  men  which  are  after  the 
likeness  of  God's  holiness ;  as,  in  the  admonition  which  is 
often  repeated  in  the  books  of  Moses,  "  Be  ye  holy,  for  I 
am  holy."  Again,  it  is  used  to  denote  the  relation  sus- 
tained to  God  by  things  devoted  to  his  use  or  service. 
Thus,  the  tabernacle  and  all  its  parts  and  furniture  were 
holy.  In  this  sense,  the  word  Avas  used  in  the  covenant 
with  Israel.  *'  Ye  shall  be  unto  me  a  holy  nation  (ethnos 
hagion.") — Ex.  xix,  6.  The  acceptance  of  this  covenant, 
and  the  seal  of  baptism  by  which  it  was  confirmed  estab- 
lished Israel  as  "  holy"  unto  the  Lord.  Prior  to  that  cov- 
enant the  word  had  never  been  applied  to  men.  But  from 
that  transaction  forward  Israel  was  recognized  in  that  char- 
acter. Thus, alluding  to  the  covenant,  Moses  says  to  them, — 
'*  Thou  art  a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  the  Lord 
thy  God  hath  chosen  thee  to  be  a  special  people  unto  him- 
self above  all  people  that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth." — 
Deut.  vii,  6.  Upon  this  title  and  the  covenant  ground  of 
it,  Moses  insists  with  great  emphasis,  recurring  to  the  theme 
again  and  again.  (See  Dent,  xiv,  2,  21 ;  xxvi,  19  ;  xxviii, 
9.)  It  is  in  view  of  this  covenant  provision  that  the  dis- 
tinctive appellation  of  Israel  in  the  prophets  is,  "  the  holy 
people ;"  and  to  the  same  source  is  to  be  referred  the  famil- 


468  THE  HOUSEHOLD.  [Part  XVI. 

iar  designation  of  "  saints,"  that  is,  holy  ones,  which  is  con- 
stantly employed,  especially  in  the  Psalms.  Thus,  the  Lord 
says  in  Ps.  1,  5, — "Gather  my  saints  together  unto  me; 
those  that  have  made  a  covenant  with  me  by  sacrifice." 
Here,  not  only  is  the  title  used,  but  the  ground  of  it  is 
stated.  It  is  that  public  profession  and  covenant  of  which 
sacrifice  was  essential  as  a  seal,  and  incorporated  as  such  m 
the  baptismal  rite. 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  the  Old  Testament,  respecting 
these  words.  The  church  of  Corinth  was  composed  largely 
of  Jews,  who  as  we  have  seen  still  maintained  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  synagogue  after  as  well  as  before  their  con- 
version to  Christ.  In  those  assemblies,  James  declares  that 
"Moses  of  old  time  hath  in  every  city,  them  that  preach 
him,  being  read  in  the  synagogues  every  Sabbath  day." — 
Acts  XV,  21.  The  Corinthian  disciples,  therefore,  never 
attended  those  services  without  hearing  the  words  in  ques- 
tion used;  and  used  in  this  continual  sense  of  ritual  un- 
cleanness  and  ritual  purity. 

In  the  New  Testament,  the  words  in  question  are  em- 
ployed in  strict  accordance  with  the  Old  Testament  usage. 
But  as  the  ritual  law  here  sinks  into  comparative  obscurity, 
akathartos,  more  frequently  means  the  loathsomeness  of  sin. 
Of  the  twenty-eight  places  in  which  it  is  found,  it  in 
twenty,  describes  ^^  unclean  spirits,"  or  demons.  But  when 
the  question  arises  of  the  right  of  the  Gentiles  to  a  part 
with  Israel,  in  the  covenant  and  the  church,  the  ritual 
meaning  of  the  word,  again  comes  forward.  Peter  in  his 
vision  pleads  that  he  had  "  never  eaten  any  thing  common, 
or  unclean." — Acts  x,  14,  The  lesson  w^hich  that  vision 
taught  him  was,  that  he  '*  should  not  call  any  man  com- 
mon or  unclean." — lb.  28.  And  he  afterward  said  of  the 
house  of  Cornelius  that  God  "put  no  difference  between 
us  and  them,  (katharisas)  cleansing  their  hearts  by  faith." — 
lb.  XV,  9.  Except  the  place  in  question,  in  which  the  re- 
lation of  the  children  to  the  church  is  in  view,  and  that 


Sec.  XCIX.]  YOUR  CHILDREN  HOLY.  469 

of  Peter,  conceruiug  the  like  relation  of  believing  Gentiles, 
the  word  is  invariably  used  in  the  New  Testament  to  desig- 
nate that  moral  character  of  which  ritual  uncleanness  was 
the  figure. 

So,  too,  as  to  (hagioi)  ''holy"  or  "  saints" — it  is  the  peculiar 
and  distinctive  appellation  in  the  New  Testament,  as  in  the 
Old,  for  those  whom  we  would  call  "  members  of  the 
church.''  In  the  Acts  of  the  Aj^ostles,  some  half  a  dozen 
times,  the  title  of  "  disciples,"  is  used ;  once,  Peter  employs 
the  name  of  "Christian"  (1  Pet.  iv,  16);  and  Paul  once 
sj^eaks  of  "the  believers."  (1  Tim.  iv,  12.)  But,  with 
these  exceptions,  the  appellation  universally  used  is  (hagioi) 
"saints."  It  thus  occurs  about  fifty-six  times,  of  which 
forty  are  in  the  epistles  of  Paul,  the  author  of  the  passage 
in  question.  In  fact,  this  is  the  designation  which  he 
uniformly  employs  in  this  very  epistle  and  his  second 
to  the  same  church  to  designate  the  members  of  the 
church.  "  Dare  any  of  you,  having  a  matter  against 
another,  go  to  law  before  the  unjust  and  not  before  the 
saints  r — 1  Cor.  vi,  1.  "  As  in  all  the  churches  of  the 
saints."  (lb.  xiv,  33.)  "Paul  .  .  .  unto  the  church  of 
God  which  is  in  Corinth,  with  all  the  saints  which  are  in  all 
Achaia." — 2  Cor.  i,  1.  The  source  of  this  title,  moreover, 
as  derived  from  the  Sinai  covenant,  is  indicated  by  Peter, 
who  quotes  the  terms  of  that  covenant  and  applies  them  to 
the  New  Testament  church.  "  Ye  are  a  chosen  generation, 
a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation  (etlinos  hagion),  a  peculiar 
people." — 1  Peter  ii,  9.  As  in  the  Old  Testament,  so  in 
the  New,  the  word,  higios,  invariably  means,  either,  that 
holiness  which  is  essential  in  God,  and  which,  in  his  crea- 
tures is  a  bond  of  consecration  to  him  ;  or,  the  characteristic 
of  persons  and  things  separated  by  a  peculiar  dedication  and 
appropriation  to  his  use  and  service. 

The  alternative  to  which  the  facts  reduce  us,  is  this : — 
that  Paul,  master  as  he  was  of  the  Mosaic  system  and  of 
the  language  in  which  it  is  recorded, — in  his  reference  to 


470  THE  HOUSEHOLD.  [Part  XVI. 

the  children,  used  the  words,  akathartoi,  and,  hagioi,  in  their 
famiHar  ritual  signification;  or  that  he  meant  to  deceive 
his  readers.  For,  that  the  heirs  of  the  covenant  were  in 
fact  a  holy  people  to  God,  was  an  express  and  fundamental 
specification  in  the  covenant.  And  that  the  children  were 
comprehended  in  this  provision  was  no  more  questionable 
than  was  the  existence  of  the  covenant  itself.  Whatever 
therefore  the  meaning  of  Paul,  his  readers  could  not  possi- 
bly understand  his  language  in  any  but  one  way: — ''Else 
were  your  children  excluded  from  the  ]pale  of  the  covenant ;  but 
now  are  they  embraced  in  it." 

The  attempt  is  made  to  evade  the  overwhelming  force 
of  the  facts,  on  this  point,  by  a  most  extraordinary  inter- 
pretation. It  is  asserted  that  Paul  means, — "Else  were 
your  children  illegitimate,  but  now  are  they  legitimate." 
The  doctrine  thus  attributed  to  the  apostle,  is  in  the  first 
place,  false  and  abominable  in  morals.  It  is  an  assertion 
that  no  child  is  legitimate,  unlesi^one  or  other  of  its 
parents  be  a  Christian.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  an  inter- 
pretation false  to  the  whole  testimony  of  the  Scriptures  as 
to  the  meaning  of  the  words.  In  all  the  multitude  of 
places  in  which  they  are  to  be  found,  there  is  not  one  to  give 
the  slightest  color  of  sanction  to  it.  It  is  nothing  less 
than  a  desperate  and  unscrupulous  attempt  to  silence  the 
voice  of'  God's  testimony  because  it  is  in  terms  of  grace  to 
our  children. 

Paul's  language  is,  in  fact,  an  application  tb  the  chil- 
dren, of  the  same  general  principle  of  divine  grace,  which 
governed  him  in  the  circumcision  of  Timothy.  The  He- 
brew blood  of  Timothy's  mother  was  held  to  entitle  him  to 
part  in  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  although  his  father  was 
a  Greek.  So,  Paul  pronounces  the  children  of  believers, 
Gentiles  and  Jews,  to  be  clean,  as  comprehended  in  the 
Sinai  covenant,  and  the  gospel  church,  even  though  one 
parent  should  be  an  unbeliever. 

It  is  only  to  be  farther  considered,  that  as  those  only 


Six.  C]  HOUSEHOLD  BAPTISMS.  471 

-who  are  baptized  of  the  Spirit  are  spiritually  clean,  so  the 
Scriptures  know  nothing  of  ritual  cleanness,  except  by 
baptism  with  water;  and  that  the  command,  "  Go,  disciple 
all  nations,  baptizing  them,"  makes  the  baptizing  co-exten- 
sive with  the  discipleship, — that  is,  with  admission  to  the 
school  of  Christ,  and  pale  of  the  covenant. 

Section  C. — Household  Baptisms. 

We  have  seen  the  grace  of  God  expressed  toward  the 
children  of  his  people,  under  the  Mosaic  economy,  by  their 
being  embraced  with  their  parents  in  the  terms  of  the  cov- 
enant. We  have  seen  their  admission  thereto  announced 
and  confirmed  by  the  seal  of  baptism.  We  have  seen  no 
token  of  the  withdrawal  of  that  grace  by  the  Lord  Jesus 
when  in  person  on  earth.  We  have  heard,  on  the  con- 
trary, his  confirmation  of  it  in  terms  as  strong  as  language 
can  furnish.  We  have  seen  that  same  covenant,  its  terms 
unchanged,  and  its  seal  the  same,  thrown  open,  through 
the  ministry  of  the  apostles,  to  the  Gentiles,  and  heard  the 
testimony  of  the  apostle,  that  our  children  are  not  un- 
clean,— offensive  to  God,  but  holy, — acceptable  before  him. 
We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  facts  and  principles  in- 
volved in  the  household  baptisms,  which  are  described  in 
the  New  Testament.  First,  however,  it  is  proper  to  make 
an  important  correction  in  the  aspect  in  which  the  subject 
is  commonly  viewed  and  discussed.  The  principle  which 
the  Scriptures  set  forth  and  establish  is  niDt  that  of  the 
baptism  and  membership  of  infants,  as  such.  The  funda- 
mental element  of  the  visible  church,  as  conceived  and 
set  forth,  in  Scripture,  is  not  the  individual,  but  the  family. 
As  God  planted  the 'earth  in  families,  so  in  the  covenant 
with  Abraham  he  laid  down  the  family  society  as  the  foun- 
dation stone,  on  which,  at  Sinai,  the  church  was  builded ; 
and  hence  the  organization  of  the  church  of  Israel  upon 
the  family  principle,  and  its  government  by  the  eldership, 
the  representatives  of  its  families.    Under  this  constitution, 


472  THE    HOUSEHOLD.  [Part  XVI. 

the  infants,  were  of  course  included.  But  tlie  designation 
and  discussion  of  the  subject,  under  their  name,  as  if  it 
were  a  question  of  infant  baptism  and  infant  membership, 
distinctively,  does  injustice  to  the  subject,  as  it  leaves  out 
of  sight  and  practically  excludes  the  fundamental  principle 
involved.  That  principle  is,  parental  headship,  and  the 
consequent  grace  of  God  bestowed  on  the  families  of  his 
people, — their  children  and  bond  servants, — as  identified 
in  and  represented  by  them. 

1.  The  first  case  of  household  baptism  mentioned  is 
that  of  Lydia, — "  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  that  she 
attended  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  of  Paul.  And 
when  she  was  baptized,  and  her  household,  she  besought 
us  saying.  If  ye  have  judged  me  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord, 
come  into  my  house  and  abide  there." — Acts  xvi,  14,  15. 
Here,  the  essential  facts  are,  (1.)  that  the  house  of  Lydia 
were  by  the  inspired  historian,  recognized  in  no  other  capacity 
than  as  being  (oikos  antes)  her  house.  Their  number,  their 
names,  their  ages,  their  distinctive  relation  to  her,  whether 
as  children  or  servants,  their  several  or  joint  sentiments 
toward  the  gospel, — on  all  these  points  he  is  silent.  The 
one  single  fact  to  which  he  directs  our  attention  is  Lydia's 
property  in  them.  (2.)  Of  Lydia  alone  it  is  said  that  the 
Lord  opened  her  heart;  and  upon  this  fact  exclusively  is 
predicated  her  baptism  and  that  of  her  house.  Should  any 
surmise  that  her  house  also  believed,  we  do  not  object,  pro- 
vided the  surmise  is  not  to  be  made  an  essential  part  of 
the  record.  If  it  be  insisted  that  they  believed  and  there- 
fore were  baptized,  we  reply  that  had  such  been  the  con- 
ception of  the  sacred  writer,  it  would  have  been  as  easy, 
and  far  more  important  for  him  to  have  stated  their  faith, 
as  he  has  recorded  their  baptism.  The  supposition  that 
they  did  in  fact  believe,  only  renders  his  silence  on  that 
point  the  more  significant.  (8.)  These  facts  occurred  in  the 
ministry  of  that  same  Paul  whom  we  have  just  seen  to 
testify  that  the  children  of  believers  are  holy.     In  a  word 


Skc.  C]  household  baptisms.  473 

Luke  states  tlic  fact  of  the  baptism,  and  the  ground  of  it. 
Lydia  believed,  and  she  was  baptized  and  her  house.  Be- 
cause of  her  faith,  to  lier  and  to  her  house  the  old,  the 
everlasting,  covenant  was  fulfilled, — "  to  be  a  God  to  thee 
and  to  thy  seed  after  thee." 

2.  The  baptism,  w^hich  soon  followed,  of  the  jailer  and 
his  house  is  equally  explicit  on  this  point.  He*  said  to 
Paul  and  Silas,  "  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  And 
they  said,  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved,  and  thy  house.  And  they  spake  unto  him  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all  that  were  in  his  house.  And 
he  took  them  the  same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their 
stripes,  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all  his  straightway.  And 
when  he  had  brought  them  into  his  house,  he  set  meat  be- 
fore them,  and  (egaUiasato  i)ctnoihi,  pepisteukos  to  TJwd,)  re- 
joiced Avith  his  house,  he  believing  in  God." — Acts  xvi, 
30-34.  Here,  again,  we  have  a  construction  which  re- 
markably ignores  the  question  whether  his  house,  as  well 
as  he,  believed.  It  may  be  assumed  that  they  w^ere  all  of 
an  age  to  hear  and  understand  the  gospel.  It  may  be 
assumed  that  they,  so  understanding,  believed  also.  But 
it  may  not  be  assumed  that  such  knowledge  and  faith  were 
the  ground  of  their  baptism,  because  the  sacred  writer  puts 
it  upon  a  diflferent  ground.  It  was  as  identified  with  him — 
as  belonging  to  him,  that  they  w^ere  included  in  the  rite. 
*'  He  was  baptized, — he  and  all  /iis."  Thus  their  relation  to 
him  is  the  defining  term.  *'He  and  all  that  were  his." — 
He  and  none  hut  his ;  and  they  because  they  were  his. 
Such  is  the  force  of  the  expression  as  it  stands.  In  the 
same  direction  looks  the  closing  expression.  "  He  rejoiced 
with  all  his  house, — he  believing."  That  his  house  did  not 
believe  we  neither  assert  nor  deny.  The  point  of  import- 
ance is,  that  their  faith  is  no  element  of  the  case,  as  stated 
on  the  record,  upon  which  was  grounded  their  baptism. 
The  alternative  is  clear  and  inevitable.  Either  ho,  only, 
of  all  his  house  did  in  fact  lielieve ;  or,  if  his  household 

40 


474  THE  HOUSEHOLD.  [Part  XVI. 

shared  in  his  faith,  the  remarkable  manner  in  which,  in  the 
narrative,  they  are  associated  with  him  in  his  baptism  and 
joy,  but  omitted  from  the  statement  which  describes  him 
alone,  as  believing,  was  an  express  and  designed  intimation 
that  his  personal  faith  was  the  controlling  element  in  the 
case,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  everlasting  covenant, — 
*'  to  be  a  God  to  thee,  and  to  iliy  seed  after  thee,"  and  the 
assurance  given  him  by  Paul, — "Believe,  .  .  .  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved  and  thy  house."  He  w^as  recognized  and 
dealt  with  as  the  head  of  his  house,  precisely  as  was 
Abraham. 

3.  Paul  declares  that  he  "baptized  (ton  Stephana  oikon) 
the  house  of  Stephanas." — 1  Cor.  i,  16.  Here,  again,  there 
is  no  discrimination  of  individuals.  The  characteristic  upon 
which  he  predicates  the  baptism  is  the  relation  which  he 
indicates.  It  was  the  house  of  Stephanas,  as  such,  whom 
he  baptized. 

Respecting  these  cases,  it  may  be  admitted  that  if  taken 
separately,  they  would  constitute  no  conclusive  evidence  to 
the  present  purpose.  But  such  is  not  their  position.  They 
stand  as  one  element  in  a  series  of  facts  and  principles 
which  together  present  a  cumulative  argument  conclusive 
and  unanswerable.  These  begin  with  the  Abrahamic  cov- 
enant and  the  family  principle  there  established.  They  in- 
iuclude  the  Sinai  constitution,  in  which  the  same  principle 
was  ineffaceably  engraved.  They  comprehend  the  opening 
of  the  doors  of  the  church  thereon  founded,  to  the  Gentile 
world,  with  this  principle  unimpaired.  They  reveal  the 
love  of  Christ  to  the  babes,  in  the  history  and  instructions 
of  his  personal  ministry,  and  in  his  parting  commission  to 
Peter.  They  hold  up  the  testimony  of  Paul,  that  the 
babes  of  believers  are  "saints."  It  is  in  the  presence  of 
these  great  facts,  inscribed  in  letters  of  light  upon  the  rec- 
ords of  fifteen  hundred  years ;  and  in  the  absence  of  any 
thing  whatever  to  contravene  their  testimonies,  or  to  set 
aside  the  conclusions  thence  following,  that  the  household 


Sec.  C]  household  BAPTISMS.  475 

baptisms  in  questiou  are  to  be  considered.  The  cliildren 
and  household  were  once  unquestionably  embraced  in  God's 
covenant  with  his  church.  "  EverlastiTig ,"  was  by  His  finger 
written  on  the  face  of  that  covenant.  (Gen.  xvii,  7.)  In  its 
terms,  as  announced  at  Sinai,  place  for  the  Gentiles  was  ex- 
pressly reserved;  and  upon  their  ultimate  admission,  no 
trace  of  change,  in  these  respects,  appears  in  the  record.  On 
the  contrary,  in  the  cases  just  examined,  we  have  the  most 
conclusive  evidence,  in  view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  that 
the  position  of  the  family  has  not  been  changed  by  the 
coming  of  Christ,  and  the  giving  of  the  gospel  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. It  still  continues  a  unit  under  the  parental  head ; 
and  the  same  grace  which  blessed  the  seed  of  Abraham 
because  of  his  faith, — the  same  which,  at  Sinai,  embraced 
the  children  with  their  parents,  in  the  covenant  and  the 
fold,  still  extends  those  privileges  to  the  children  of  Gen- 
tiles who  believe.     They  are  holy. 


476  CONCLUSION, 


Conclusion. 

AND  now,  at  the  goal,  we  turn  to  survey  the  broad 
field  of  our  explorations,  and  to  note  the  accumulated 
results.  From  this  vantage  point,  many  things  appear  in 
a  light  of  peculiar  instructiveness  and  beauty.  But  one 
feature  stands  out  in  proportions  of  loftiness,  and  glory, 
which  cast  all  else  into  the  shade  of  insignificance.  As 
with  rapt  spirits,  we  gaze,  the  high  throne  is  revealed  where 
sits  the  Son  of  man, — his  human  form  robed  in  the  Fa- 
ther's glory, — his  countenance  blending  the  infinite  majesty 
of  God,  with  the  fullness  of  grace  and  truth, — his  brow 
adorned  with  a  diadem  of  many  crowns,  and  all  power  in 
heaven  and  earth,  in  his  hand.  The  heavens  are  aston- 
ished at  the  presence  of  his  glory,  and  the  adoring  angels, 
prostrate,  await  his  bidding.  The  fullness  of  the  Spirit  is 
his;  and  his  office  thus  exalted  it  is,  to  baptize  us  sinners 
with  that  Spirit, — to  give  us  thus,  repentance  and  remis- 
sion of  sins  and  sanctifying  grace,  and  to  raise  ns  up  from 
the  dead  and  make  us  sit  with  him  in  the  heavenly  places 
where  he  reigns.  This  is  the  central  sun  of  the  system 
which  we  have  explored'.  From  this  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
all  the  ordinances  here  examined,  derive  their  instructive 
light  and  beauty. '  It  is  the  original, — the  heavenly  pattern 
whence  their  form  and  office  were  divinely  transcribed. 
It  is,  therefore,  the  rule  and  standard  to  which  all  baptis- 
mal rites  and  doctrines  must  be  brought. 

Tried  by  this  rule,  the  figment  of  baptismal  regenera- 
tion stands  exposed  in  naked  falsehood  and  dishonor  ;  arro- 
gating to  men  a  share  of  the  sovereign  prerogatives  of  our 
glorious  Baptizer ;  subordinating  the  functions  of  his  grace 
to  their  will  and  wisdom,  their  fidelity  and  zeal. 


CONCL  US  I  ON.  477 

The  rite  of  immersion  too, — already  discountenauced 
by  the  imited  voice  of  the  Scri2)tures, — when  brought  to 
this  supreme  and  final  test,  is  utterly  wanting. 

It  is  discountenanced  by  the  transaction  at  Sinai,  in 
which  the  church  was  separated  out  of  the  world  and  con- 
secrated to  God  by  a  baptism  of  sprinkled  w-ater  and  blood. 

It  is  discountenanced  by  the  rites  which  certified  and 
sealed  the  restoration  of  the  healed  le])er  to  the  communion 
of  Israel. 

It  is  discountenanced  by  the  water  of  purifying  with 
which  the  Levites  were  sprinkled,  in  their  consecration  to 
the  service  of  God's  sanctuary. 

It  is  discountenauced  by  the  ordinance  which  appointed 
the  water  of  separation,  to  be  sprinkled  as  the  ordinary 
and  perpetuated  form  of  the  Sinai  baptism,  for  sealing  ad- 
mission to  the  benefits  of  the  Sinai  covenant. 

It  is  excluded  by  the  declaration  of  the  son  of  Sirach 
that  the  sprinkling  of  the  unclean  with  the  water  of  sepa- 
ration was  a  baptizing. 

It  is  discountenanced  by  the  sprinkled  baptism  of  the 
thirty-two  thousand  infants  and  youths  of  Midian,  whereby 
they  were  received  into  the  fold  of  the  covenant  and  the 
church. 

It  is  condemned  by  every  voice  in  the  Psalms  and  the 
prophets  which  breathes  a  sense  of  the  sinner's  need,  or 
anticipates  the  blessings  of  Messiah's  grace,  in  the  language 
of  these  ordinances. 

It  is  excluded  by  the  explicit  testimony  of  the  apostle 
Paul,  that  these  ordinances  were  baptisms. 

It  is  condemned  by  the  implacable  war  w'hich  it  of 
necessity  wages  against  the  identity  of  the  church  from 
the  day  of  the  assembly  at  Sinai, — by  its  repudiation  of 
the  Old  Testament  church — the  church  of  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  which  was  for  fifteen  centuries  a  lone  beacon  light 
among  the  nations,  God's  only  witness  amid  the  gloom  of 
thick  darkness  which  enshrouded  the  world. 


4/0  CONCLUSION. 

It  is  discountenanced  by  the  voice  of  John's  baptism 
which  heralded  and  symbohzed  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
on  Pentecost ;  and  is  excluded  by  all  the  circumstances  of 
his  ministry,  which  show  that  he  could  not  have  immersed 
his  disciples,  and  that  he  would  not  have  done  it,  though 
he  could. 

It  is  discountenanced  by  the  whole  style  of  the  evan- 
gelists and  apostles,  who  speak  of  baptism  and  its  relations 
m  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  recognize  it  as 
a  symbol  of  the  outpouring  of  Pentecost. 

It  is  excluded  by  the  records  of  Christian  baptisms  as 
given  by  Luke,  which,  beginning  with  the  three  thousand 
of  Pentecost  and  ending  with  the  jailer  of  Philippi  and  his 
house,  present  an  array  of  difficulties  in  the  way  of  immer- 
sion, which  are  severally  inexplicable,  and  together  over- 
whelming. 

It  is  condemned  by  its  association  with  the  kindred  de- 
nial of  the  place  which  God  has  assigned  to  the  family  and 
the  children  in  his  fold  and  his  covenant ;  and  by  all  the 
facts  which  demonstrate  their  God-given  and  inalienable 
rights  therein. 

It  is  utterly  condemned  by  the  fact  that  it  maims  the 
symmetry  and  completeness  of  the  sacramental  system  of 
the  Christian  church.  Whilst  the  Old  Testament  sacra- 
ments exhibit  in  just  proportions  every  part  and  feature  of 
the  plan  of  grace,  and  whilst  the  genuine  ordinances  of 
the  New  Testament,  in  like  proportions,  abbreviate  the 
Avhole,  exhibiting  in  the  holy  supper  the  sacrament  of 
Christ's  humiliation  and  sacrifice,  and  in  baptism  that  of 
his  exaltation  and  glory,  his  power  and  grace, — the  system 
in  question,  recognizes  indeed,  with  us,  in  the  Lord's  sup- 
per, the  memorial  of  Christ's  suffering  and  death,  but  in 
baptism  can  see  nothing  but  the  symbol  of  his  burial,  and 
so  leaves  him  and  all  our  hopes  shut  up  and  sealed  in  the 
sepulchre  of  Joseph. 

It  is  signally  discountenanced  by  the  remarkable  fact 


CONCL  USION.  479 

that  in  every  rite  and  every  figure  in  which  the  Scriptures 
represent  the  active  exercise  by  the  Messiah  of  his  official 
functions,  the  form  of  action  is  affusion,  whether  it  be  with 
the  blood  of  atonement  at  the  sanctuary  of  Israel, — the 
water,  mingled  with  ashes  or  blood,  which  sprinkled  the 
unclean, — the  anointing  oil  poured  upon  the  head;  or  the 
fires  of  justice  rained  down  from  heaven. 

But  why  dwell  upon  minor  particulars!  The  rite  in 
question  is  condemned  and  excluded  by  the  whole  tenor  of 
the  Scriptures,  which  demonstrate  that  baptizo  as  there  used 
does  not  mean,  to  immerse,  and  which  reveal  no  vestige  of 
other  testimony  in  behalf  of  the  rite,  but  everywhere  show 
evidence  abundant  and  conclusive  against  it. 

But  the  capital  and  paramount  consideration  still  re- 
mains, in  the  fact  that  this  rite  will  not  assimilate  with,  nor 
recognize  the  baptism  which  Christ  dispenses  from  his 
throne.  It  ignores  the  exaltation  whence  that  baptism  de- 
scends, and  refuses  to  testify  of  its  outpouring  of  grace. 
And  hence,  although  administered  w'ith  the  use  of  the 
w^ords,  it  is  not  in  the  sense  intended  by  the  Lord  Jesus, 
baptism  ' '  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost;"  for  its  doctrine  has  no  relation  to 
those  blessed  Persons,  nor  to  our  union  with  them.  It  is 
wholly  occupied  with  another  theme.  Whilst  the  true  bap- 
tism exultingly  points  upward  to  the  throne  of  Christ's 
glory,  this  rite  looks  downward  ever  to  the  grave. 

To  our  readers  we  leave  the  question, — What  one  trait 
or  characteristic  of  Scriptural  baptism  is  traceable  in  this 
rite  of  immersion,  in  doctrine,  or  in  form  ? 

In  entire  consistency  with  a  spirit  of  true  Christian  love 
and  fellowship  toward  our  brethren  of  the  Baptist  churches, 
we  can  not  but  realize  an  indignant  revolt  against  this  rite, 
so  imperious  in  its  claims,  so  devoid  of  evidence,  so  hostile 
to  the  true  baptism  of  the  Christian  church,  so  efficient  in 
creating  division  therein, — this  rite  in  the  zeal  of  which, 
those  who  reject  it  have  been  denied  any  part  in  the  church 


480  CONCL  USION. 

of  God,  or  place  at  liis  table,  or  portion  in  his  covenant. 
Not  such  the  ordinance  which  her  glorious  Head  has  be- 
stowed upon  his  church,  nor  such  the  princijiles  which  he 
has  taught  her  to  cherish; — an  ordinance  in  which  is  shown 
forth  and  celebrated  the  glory  of  his  exaltation  and  his 
grace, — an  ordinance  which  baptizes  us  into  his  name  and 
that  of  the  blessed  Godhead,  by  setting  forth  the  doctrine 
of  that  Godhead  and  of  our  union  with  it  in  Christ  by  the 
Spirit, — an  ordinance  which  seals  upon  the  brows  of  our 
babes  that  same  blessing  which  they  received  in  His  own 
arms  and  from  His  own  hands,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh ; — 
and  principles  which  teach  us  to  recognize  and  embrace  in 
the  bonds  of  love  and  the  fellowship  of  the  covenant  and  of 
the  church  all  those  who  in  every  place  call  upon  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  both  their  Lord  and  ours,  even 
though  they  may  grievously  err  respecting  outward  rites 
and  forms. 

Now  to  Him,  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the 
only  wise  God,  be  honor  and  glory,  for  ever.     Amen. 


SCRIPTURES 

ILLUSTRATED  IN  THE  FOREGOING  PAGES. 


fEsis .— i,  26,  p.  268 ;— ii,  10,  p.  32 ;— iii,  15,  p.  41 ;— xii,  1-3, 
p.  37 ;— XV,  1+,  p.  38 ;— xvii,  1-21,  p.  39 ;— xvii,  7,  p.  59 ;— xxii, 
16-18,  p.  41 ;— xxxvii,  31,  p.  158. 

mTT«  —VI*    9.-R    n.  42  •— iri-x-.  .^-5.  r>.  43  •— viv     5^-91     r>    97    45? 


168;— xxix,  12-38,  p.  144;— xxxi,  19-24,  p.  82;— xxxi,  23, 

p.  138. 
Deuteronomy.— iv,  10,  p.  51 ;— xvi,  13-15,  p.  148;— xxi,  3-9,  p. 

123,-xxi,  12,  p.  114. 
2  KiNGS.-iii,  11,  p.  123;— V,  10,  14,  p.  157. 
Job.— ix,  30,  31,  p.  Ill,  158. 
Psalm.— viii,  4-8,  p.  269;— li,  2-10,  p.  61. 
Isaiah.— i,  16,  17,  p.  116;— vi,  5-7,  p.  64;— xix,  19,  p.  154;— xxi, 

4,  p.  295;— Iii,  15,  p.  140. 
EzEKiEL.— xvi,  8, 9,  p.  74; — xxii,  24,  p.  89; — xxxvii,  1-14, p.  301  ;— 

xxxvii,  12-15,  p.  94;— xlvii,  1-12,  p.  32,  33. 
Haggai.— ii,  11,  14,  p.  227. 
Zechariah.— xiv,  8,  p.  34,  148,  151. 

Malaciii.— iii,  2,  3,  p.  287 ;— iv,  1-4,  p.  291 ;— iv,  4,  p.  243. 
Matthew.- iii,  5,  6,  p.  233;— iii,  11,  p.  241,  284;— iii,  13-15,  p 

247;— xvii,  3,  p.  230;-xviii,  1-5,  p.  462;— xix,  13-15,  p 

463;— XX,  20-23,  p.  258;— xxvi,  28,  p.  225;— xxvii,  24,  p 

123;-xxviii,  19,  20,  p.  380,  424,  431,  435,  439. 


482  SCRIPTURES  ILLUSTRATED. 


Luke.— i,  17,  p.  228;— ii,  22,  p.  85;— iii,  16,  p.  284;— iii,  21,  22, 
p.  254 ;— vii,  37,  38,  44,  p.  124, 125 ;— ix,  31,  p.  230 ;— ix,  46-48, 
p.  462;— xi,  29,  p.  214;— xi,  38,  p.  21,  209,  214 ;— xii,  49-53, 
p.  265 ;— xviii,  15-17,  p.  463 ;— xxiv,  44-46,  p.  100. 

John.— i,  33,  p.  280;— ii,  18-22,  p.  101 ;— iii,  5,  p.  384;— iii,  23, 
p.  360;— iv,  14,  p.  308;— vii,  37,  38  -  ^nft._^^  a  ..  inQ._ 
xi,  25,  26,  p.  92,  95;— xiv,  16, 17,  25, 


2  Corinthians.— iii,  2,  3,  6,  p.  382. 

Ephesians.— iv,  3-16,  p.  330;— iv,  5,  p.  333;— v,  25-27,  p.  390. 

CoLOssiANs. — ii,  9-13,  p.  371. 

Titus.— iii,  4-7,  p.  323. 

Hebrews.— ii,  5-8,  p.  269;— iv,  4-9,  p.  65 ;— vi,  7-9,  p.  35;— vi, 

17-20,  p.  41;— ix,  8,  9,  p.  103;— xiii,  11-13,  p.  97. 
1  Peter.— ii,  9,  p.  469,— iii,  17-22,  p.  333. 
1  John.— V,  18,  19,  p.  110. 
Eevelation.— i,  12,  13,  p.  311 ;— xxii,  1,  2,  p.  32. 


INDEX, 


Ablution,  Mode  of  domestic,  page 
119. 

Abrahamic  covenant,  p.  37.  "My 
covenant,"  p.  43.  Everlasting, 
p.  40,  43.  Circumcision,  its 
seal,  p.  40,  58.  An  adumbra- 
tion of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
p.  40. 

Administration  of  the  great  Bap- 
tizer,  p.  338. 

Agora, — the  market,  p.  214. 

Akiva,  Rabbi,  p.  213. 

Alexander,  Dr.  Addison,  quoted, 
p.  287,  301,  310,  453. 

Ambrose  on  Levitical  baptism,  p. 
194. 

Angel  of  his  presence,  p.  223, 

Anointing  of  Christ,  p.  254. 

Apocrypha,  their  value,  p.  153. 

Aristophanes  quoted,  p.  186,  325. 

Armstrong  quoted,  p.  259. 

Ashes  of  the  red  heifer,  p.  68,  98. 

Ashes  of  calves,  at  Rome,  p.  185. 

Assembly,  Day  of  the,  p.  51. 

Athenaeus  quoted,  p.  825. 

Augustine  quoted,  p.  303. 

Aztec  baptism  of  Infants,  p.  191, 

Babylonian  Gemara,  p.  78. 

Babylonian  rabbinic  schools,  p. 
78,  81. 

Baptism  —  Argument  from  the 
real,  p.  343.  And  circumcision, 
p.  58.  Originated  in  the  Old 
Testament,  p.  21.     Of  Israel,  p. 


25,  29.  Levitical,  p.  25.  Of 
Naaman,  p.  157,  History  of 
Christian,  p.  424.  On  Pente- 
cost, p.  440.  Its  symbolic  mean- 
ing, p.  92,  446. 

Baptism  of  fire,  p.  284. 

Baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  p.  273, 
277,  299,  322,  331. 

Baptism  of  Repentance  and  re- 
mission, p.  318,  331,  447. 

Baptism  of  Jesus  by  John,  p.  247. 

"  Baptism  that  I  am  baptized 
with,"  p.  257. 

Baptisma  and  Baptismos,  p,  156, 

Baptisms,  Divers,  imposed  on  Is- 
rael, p.  22,  103. 

Baptisms  of  things,  p.  136,  219. 

Baptismal  formula.  There  is  none, 
p.  438. 

Baptismal  regeneration,  p.  377. 

"Baptized  for  the  dead,"  p.  170. 

"Baptized  from  the  dead,"  p.  169. 

Baptized  into  Christ,  p.  321,  332, 
368. 

Baptized  into  one  body,  p.  357. 

Baptized  into  Moses,  p,  350,  457. 

Baptizing  administration  of 
Christ,  p.  338. 

Baptizing  office  of  Christ,  p. 
273. 

BaptizOj  p.  153.  Conant's  defini- 
tions, p.  155,  347.  Kendrick's 
admissions,  p.  349.  It  sounds 
best!  p.  352.  It  knows  not  the 
resurrection,  p.  347. 


484 


INDEX. 


Baptizontai  and  raniizoniai,  p.  216, 
Barthelemi,  Abbe,  quoted,  p.  184. 
"Believeth  and  is  baptized,"  p. 

437. 
Blood  of  Sprinkling,  p.  30. 
Blood  and  water,  and  blood  alone, 

p.  97. 
**Born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit," 

p.  384. 
Brahminism  the  source  of  ritual 

immersion,  p.  80. 
Breath  of  Christ — the  Spirit,  p. 

299. 
Bryant's  Odyssey  quoted,  p.  127. 
"Buried  by  baptism,"^.  364. 
"Buried  in  baptism,"  p.  371. 

Calvin  on  the  baptizing  commis- 
sion, p.  424, 
*      Canaan,  Office  of  the  land  of,  p.  48. 

Candlestick,  Seven-branched,  p. 
311. 

Carson  quoted,  p.  28,  89,  205,  368. 

Charter  of  the  church,  p.  53. 

Childbirth  uncleanness,  p.  62 

Children  and  Christ,  p.  461. 

Children  clean,  holy,  p.  466. 

Children  of  Midian  baptized,  p. 
81. 

Christ  did  not  institute  baptism, 
p.  428. 

Christ  and  the  children,  p.  461. 

Christian  baptism  one  with  John's 
p.  424. 

Christian  fathers  on  Levitical 
baptism,  p.  192. 

Christ's  baptism  by  John,  p.  247. 
It  sealed  him  Surety  of  the  cov- 
enant, p.  252. 

Christ's  "  baptism  that  I  am  bap- 
tized with,"  p.  257. 

Christ's  baptizing  office,  p.  273. 
Its  two  functions,  p.  274,  284, 
297.  His  administration,  p.  388. 


Church  defined,  p.  49.  Origin  of 
its  name,  p.  51.  Its  charter, 
p.  53, 

Church  and  children,  p.  461,  466. 

Church  of  Israel,  p.  49,  411,  441. 
The  Gentiles  grafFed  in,  p.  418. 

Circe.  Ulysses'  bath  in  her  pal- 
ace, p.  127. 

Circumcision.  Its  office,  p.  24,  68, 
873. 

Circumcision  and  Baptism,  p.  58. 

Common  Prayer  Book  on  baptism, 
p.  354. 

Conant  on  haptizo,  p.  155,  347. 

Converts  of  Pentecost.  Their 
character,  p.  444.  Were  bap- 
tized with  water,  p.  440. 

Cornelius'  baptism,  p.  432,  455. 

Council,  of  Ephesus,  p.  281 ;  of 
Jerusalem,  p.  394;  of  Nice,  p. 
281;  of  Trent,  p.  431. 

Covenant,  Abi^ahamic,  p.  37;  of 
Sinai,  p.  42.  Its  champions, 
Elijah  and  Elisha,  p.  166 ;  John, 
p.  230.  It  was  the  marriage, 
p.  37,  49.  It  and  the  better 
covenant,  p.  224.  The  Messen- 
ger of  the  covenant,  p.  223. 

Cyril  of  Alexandria,  on  Levitical 
baptism,  p.  195. 

Dr.  Dale  quoted,  p,  279, 441, 443, 
451. 

"Day  of  the  assembly,"  p.  51. 

A  day,  a  symbol  of  a  lifetime,  p. 
109. 

Dead.  Defilement  by,  p.  62.  The 
rites  of  cleansing,  p.  68.  The 
meaning,  p,  96. 

Dead  Sea,  as  a  type,  p.  32,  34. 

Didymus  Alexandrinus,  p.  378. 

Divers  baptisms  imposed  on  Is- 
rael, p,  22.  What  were  they  ? 
p.  103. 


INDEX. 


485 


Ebrard  quoted,  p.  294. 
Ecclesia.     Origin  of  the  name,  p. 

61. 
Egypt  and  Israel,  p.  179. 
Egyptian  bathing,  p.  120. 
Egyptian  baptism,  p.  189. 
Elders.     Their  origin,  p.  53. 
Eleusinian  mysteries,  p.  188. 
Elijah  and  Elisha,  champions  of 

the  covenant,  p.  16G,  229. 
Elijah  and  John,  p.  229. 
ElUcott    (Bishop)    on   loutron,    p. 

323. 
End  of  the  Baptist  argument,  p. 

374. 
England,  Church  of — Baptistic,  p. 

323,  note;  354. 
Enon,  The  Springs,  p.  360. 
Etheridge  quoted,  p.  78,  80,  169, 

417,  418. 
Ethiopian  eunuch,  p.  451. 
Euripides  quoted,  p.  186,  187. 
Eusebius  quoted,  p.  417. 
Evidence  of  0.  T.  summed,  p.  196. 

Family  and  the  church,  p.  53. 
Fathers  of  the  church,  on  Leviti- 

cal  baptism,  p.  192;  on  the  old 

covenant  and  the  new,  p.  377. 
Feet.     Their  typical  meaning,  p. 

134.     Their  washing,  p.  124. 
Festival  of  pouring  water,  p.  143. 

It  and  the  Eleusinia,  p.  189. 
Figure  of  immersion  not  in  the 

Old  Testament,  p.  23. 
Fire,  The  Baptism  of,  p.  284.   The 

manner  of  it,  p.  296. 
Formula  of  Baptism,  p.  434,  438. 
Furniture  and  utensils  baptized, 

p.  136,  219. 

Ganges.  Immersion  thence,  p.  80. 
Gemara  of  Babylonia,  p.  78;  of 
Jerusalem,  p.  78. 


Gentiles,  place  reserved  in  the 
Sinai  covenant,  p.  40.  Israel's 
intercession  for  them,  p.  47, 147. 
Graffed  in,  p.  418. 

Gentile  purifyings,  p.  8,  181,  189, 
191. 

Godhead.  Order  of  precedence, 
p.  274. 

Gospel  in  the  Old  Testament  bap- 
tism, p.  95. 

Greek  bath,  p.  121.  127,  200,  207. 
324.     Their  purifyings,  p.  181. 

Grote,  on  Greek  purifyings,  p  181. 

Hair  shaved,  p.  102,  114,  399. 
Ilakkodesh,  Rabbi  Judah,  p.  78. 
Hebrew-Christian  church,  p.  411. 
Hellenistic  Greek,  p.  151. 
Herodotus  on  Greek  purifyings, 

p.  182. 
Hillel  and  Shammai  on  proselyte 

baptism,  p.  79. 
Homer  quoted,  p.  127,  325. 
Household  and  church,  p.  53,  461. 

Imitations  of  baptism  by  the 
heathen,  p.  8,  178,  189. 

Immersion.  None  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ritual,  p.  23.  None  in 
its  figures,  p.  24.  Not  by  the 
priests,  p.  128.  Nor  by  the  peo- 
ple, p.  115,  116,  119,  134.  Nor 
by  the  Pharisees,  p.  208.  The 
facilities  unavailable,  p.  126. 
Its  incongruities,  p.  202.  Its 
origin,  p.  80. 

India.     Immersion  thence,  p.  80. 

Infant  baptism, — in  Israel,  p.  81, 
82, —  among  the  Aztecs,  p. 
191, — among  the  Romans,  p. 
187, — in  the  Christian  church, 
p.  461,  466,471. 

"Into  Christ,"  and  "into  the  namo 
of  Christ, '  p.  365,  434. 


486 


INDEX, 


"Into  the  name,"  p.  431. 

"  Into  the  name  of  Christ,"  and, 
of  the  Three,  p.  435. 

Israel  a  priest  kingdom,  p.  46. 

Israel  at  John's  coming,  p.  225. 

Israel  compared  with  the  Chris- 
tian church,  p.  805. 

Issues,  Uncleatti  by,  p.  G2.  The 
cleansing,  p.  69. 

Jailer  of  Philippi,  p.  456. 

Jerome  on  Levitical  baptism,  p. 
194. 

Jerusalem  council,  p.  394. 

Jerusalem  Gemara,  p.  78. 

Jesus,  baptized  by  John,  p.  247; 
his  anointing,  p.  254.  "The 
baptism  that  I  am  baptized 
Avith,"  p.  257.  The  great  bap- 
tizer,  p.  267,  297. 

John  and  Elijah,  p.  228. 

John's  mission,  p.  221.  His  bap- 
tism no  novelty,  p.  21.  Its  na- 
ture and  end,  p.  228.  Identical 
with  that  of  Christ,  p.  425.  Its 
mode,  p.  237,  241. 

Josephus  quoted,  p.  156,  176, 178, 
240,  250,  327. 

Judith's  story  and  baptism,  p.  172. 

Kabala,  whence  derived,  p.  80. 
Kubas  defined,  p.  117. 
Kendrickon  baptizo,  p.  349,  458. 
Kingdom   of   heaven   defined,    p. 
267.    Christ's  coronation,  p.  278. 
Kingdom  of  priests,  p.  46. 
Koran  quoted,  p.  174. 

"  Lambs  in  his  arms,"  p.  463. 
Laver  of  the  Tabernacle,  p.  129. 
Laver  {loutron)  of  Paul,  p.  323. 
Leprosy,  unclean,  p.  68,  161. 
Rites  of  cleansing,  p.  66,  163. 
Levi,  Rabbi,  quoted,  p.  147. 


Levites  baptized,  p.  85. 

Levitical  baptisms  all  one,  p.  86. 

Lewis'  Origines  Hebraeae  quoted, 
p.  146,  149. 

Libation  vase  of  Osor-Ur,  p.  189. 

Life  to  the  dead,  meant  by  bap- 
tism, p.  92. 

Lightfoot  quoted,  p.  143,  146,  149. 

Living  water.  Its  meaning,  p.  31, 
133,  387. 

Lord's  supper  is  the  passover,  p. 
408. 

Lynch,  "Dead  Sea  Expedition" 
quoted,  p.  122,  125. 

Maimonides  on  proselyte  bap- 
tism, p.  76. 

Malachi,  and  John,  p.  291. 

Manuscripts  of  New  Testament. 
Care  in  their  transcription,  p. 
217. 

Maitland,  "Church  of  the  Cata- 
combs," p.  124. 

Market.     Baptism  after,  p.  214. 

Marriage  feast,  p.  209,  211. 

Messenger  of  the  covenan  t,  p,  223. 

Metaphor  of  water  p.  89,  386. 

Midianite  children,  baptism, p. 81. 

Mishna  described,  p.  78. 

Mission  of  John,  p.  221. 

Missions.  The  new  spirit  im- 
parted, p.  304. 

Mode  implied  in  the  meaning  of 
self-washing,  p.  115. 

Mohammedan  washing  before 
prayer,  p.  174. 

Moore,  T.  V.,  on  Malachi,  p.  291. 

Mosheim  quoted,  p.  189,  418. 

"Much  water  there,"  p.  360. 

Murder,  expiation,  p.  123.  Among 
the  Greeks,  p.  182,  184. 

Naaman's  baptism,  p.  157. 
New  Testament  Greek,  p.  151. 


INDEX. 


487 


New  Testament  Church,  how  or- 
ganized, p.  393,  411,  418. 
Nidda,  Water  of,  p.  74. 
Noah  saved  by  water,  p.  333. 

Old  Testament  evidence  summed 
p.  196. 

Orikelos,  Targum  of,  p.  77. 

Order  of  precedence  in  the  God- 
head, p.  274.  Mediatorial  order, 
p.  275. 

Ordinances  of  testimony  in  Is- 
rael, p.  54. 

Osor-Ur.     Libation  vase,  p.  189. 

Ovid  on  purifyings,  p.  184. 

Palestine.     Central  position,  p. 

49, 1 78.    Its  geology  and  water, 

p.  120. 
Palestinian  Gemara,  p.  78. 
Passover   described,   p.  24,  410. 

Perpetuated  in  the  supper,  p. 

408. 
Pentecost,  p.  297.    The  Spirit  bap- 
tism then  given,  p.  299, 304, 313, 

318.   The  gifts  imparted,  p.  313, 

318.     The   Spirit  of   missions 

then  given,  p.  804. 
Pharisees.     The  sect,  p.  236,  412. 

Their  purifyings,  p.  209. 
Philip  and  the  eunuch,  p,  451. 
Philo  Judaeus    on    the   Levitical 

baptism,  p.  77,  175,  187,  327. 
Phoenicia    and    Israel,    p.    179, 

183. 
Plato  quoted,  p.  181,  245. 
Pliny  quoted,  p.  452. 
Plutarch  quoted,  p.  326. 
Pool's  Synopsis  quoted,  p.  149. 
Pouring  of  water.     The  festival, 

p.  143. 
Pouring  water, — in  ablutions,  p. 

119,  124,  among  the  Greeks,  p. 

324. 


Pouring  water  in  ritual  wash- 
ings of  the  hands,  p.  123,  173. 

Prayer.  Washings  before,  p.  173, 
In  the  Koran,  p.  174. 

Priesthood  of  Aaron.  His  in- 
auguration, p.  131,  248.  It  was 
no  rule  to  Christ,  p.  248.  Age 
of  office,  p.  249.- 

Priesthood  of  Christ  not  after 
Aaron's  pattern,  p.  250. 

Priest-kingdom,  Israel,  p.  46,  150. 

Priests'  self-washings  not  immer- 
sions, p.  128. 

Pumbaditha  rabbinic  seminary, 
p.  78. 

Purifying  of  Jeeus  and  Mary,  p. 
84. 

Purifyings  of  the  Jews,  p.  208. 

Purifyings  of  things,  p.  102,  136, 
219. 

Rabbi.  Akiva,  p.  213.  Hillel,  p. 
79.  Judah  Hakkodesh,  p.  78. 
Maimonides,  p.  76,  79.  Sham- 
mai,  p.  79.     Solomon,  p.  149. 

Rabbinic  baptism  of  Proselytes,  p. 
76,  81. 

Rabbinic  Schools,  p.  78. 

Rabbinic  traditions  of  the  red 
heifer,  p.  142. 

Rahaiz,  defined,  p.  118, 

Rantizd7itai  and  Bapiizdntai,  p.  216. 

Rebaptism.  Note  on,  p.  430,  of 
John's  disciples,  p.  429. 

Red  heifer.  The  ashes,  p.  68,  69. 
In  Philo,  p.  175,  in  Josephus, 
p.  176.  Rabbinic  traditions,  p. 
142. 

Remission.  Baptism  of,  p.  96, 
244,  318. 

Resurrection  symbolized  by  bap- 
tism, p.  92,  257,  265. 

Resurrection  and  bapiizo,  p.  347. 

Revised  Version  on  loutron,  p.  323. 


INDEX. 


Revival  at  Sinai,  p.  28.  Baptism 
of  the  converts,  p.  29. 

Revival  under  Hezekiah,  p.  139. 
Purifying  them,  p.  13»9. 

Revival  under  John's  ministry,  p. 
232. 

Revival  of  Pentecost,  p.  297,  318. 

Ritual  law.  Its  office,  p.  54.  Its 
relation  to  the  Sinai  covenant, 
p.  56.  It  had  no  immersions, 
p.  23,  115,  116,  119,  128,  134. 
It  remains  in  force,  p.  393.  The 
Gentiles  exempted,  p.  395,  406. 
Paul  kept  and  enforced  it,  p. 
396,  402. 

Rushing  mighty  vs^ind  of  Pente- 
cost, p.  299. 

Sacraments  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, p.  24;  of  the  New,  p.  408. 

424. 
Sahagun  quoted,  p.  192. 
Sacrifice  defined,  p.  24. 
Sadducees.    The  sect,  p.  412,  413. 
Saints.    Origin  of  the  title,  p.  47, 

469. 
Scrivener  on  the  Greek  MSS,,  p. 

218. 
Sea  of  brass,  p.  130. 
Sea  water.     Its  meaning,  p.  32. 

Idolatrous  use  of  it,  p.  187. 
Self-washings,  p.  101,  108.    Their 

relation  to  the  sprinklings,  p. 

164,  105,  136. 
Separation.     Water  of,  p.  68,  73. 
Septuagint.     Its  origin,  p.  152. 
Seven  candlesticks,  p.  128,  311. 
Seven   days  uncleanness,   p.  60, 

64,  98. 
Seven  sprinklings,  p.  67,  98. 
Seventh  day.   Symbolic  meaning, 

p.  64,  98. 
Shammai  and  Hillel  on  proselyte 

baptism,  p.  79. 


Shasters,  p.  80. 

Shataph,  defined,  p.  117. 

Shaving  ofi"  the  hair,  p.  114.  By 
Paul,  p.  399. 

Sinai.  The  scene,  p.  27.  The 
covenant,  p.  42,  45.  Relation 
of  the  Gentiles,  p.  46,  53,  56. 
Place  reserved  for  them,  p.  46. 
Its  conditions,  p.  42.  Its  prom- 
ises, p.  45.  The  revival  there, 
p.  28.     The  baptism,  p.  29. 

Smith's  Dictionary  quoted,  p.  127, 
184,  188,  247,  324,  363. 

Socrates  and  Phaedrus,  p.  245. 

Solomon,  Rabbi,  quoted,  p.  149. 

Son  of  man.  His  kingdom,  p.  267. 
His  administration,  p.  338. 

Sophocles  quoted,  p.  325,  326. 

Sora  rabbinic  school,  p.  78. 

Sprinkling  represents  rain,  p.  35. 
Its  meaning,  p.  88,  99. 

State  of  the  N.  T.  question,  p.  201. 

Susannah's  story,  p.  122. 

Tubal.     Its  meaning,  p.  79,  157. 

Tabernacle.  Its  symbolic  struc- 
ture, p.  128. 

Tabernacles.    The  feast  of,  p.  144. 

Talmud  described,  p.  78. 

Talmudic  baptism,  p.  76. 

Targums  described,  p.  77. 

Ten  commandments,  the  eternal 
law  of  the  covenant,  p.  43. 

TertuUian  quoted,  p.  193,  378. 

Theodosia  Earnest  quoted,  p.  233, 
236. 

Theophrastus  quoted,  p.  824. 

Things  purified,  p.  102,  136,  219. 

Third  day.  Its  typical  meaning, 
p.  100. 

Thomson.  The  Land  and  the  Book, 
p.  34. 

Tiberias  rabinnic  school,  p.  78. 

Tongues  as  of  fire,  p.  310. 


INDEX. 


489 


Tongues.     Other,  p.  313. 

Transcription  of  the  N.  T.  Care 
in  it,  p.  217. 

Transfiguration  of  Jesus,  p.  230. 

Trinity.  Order  of  precedence,  p. 
274.  Procession  of  the  Spirit, 
p.  281. 

Typical  structure  of  the  taber- 
nacle, p.  128. 

Ulysses'  bath,  p.  127. 

Unclean.    Its  meaning,  p.  60,  466. 

Unclean  seven  days.  The  mean- 
ing, p.  60,  98.  How  cleansed, 
p.  65. 

Unclean  till  even.  Two  causes, 
p.  108.     The  meaning,  p.  109. 

Union  wrought  by  baptism,  p, 
322,  332. 

Utensils  and  furniture  baptized, 
p.  136,  219. 

Various  reading  of  Mark  vii,  4, 

p.  216. 
Vedas,  referred  to,  p.  80 
Virgil  quoted  on  purifyings,  p. 

186. 


Waldenses  referred  to,  p.  49. 

Washing.  Before  prayer,  p.  173. 
Mohammedan,  p.  174. 

Washing,  the  hands,  p.  Ill,  the 
hands  and  feet,  p.  Ill,  124,  the 
garments,  p.  112,  the  flesh,  p. 
113. 

Washings  of  the  people.  Domes- 
tic, p.  119.  Ritual,  p.  134,  210. 
Of  the  priests,  p.  128.  Before 
meals,  p   210. 

'•'  Washing  of  water  by  the  word, ' 
p.  390. 

Water,  fresh  and  salt,  p.  31,  32. 

Water,  Metaphor  of,  p.  387. 

Water.  Festival  of  outpouring, 
p?143. 

Wilkinson's  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms of  the  Egyptians,  p.  120. 

Wind,  Rushing  mighty, — of  Pen- 
tecost, p.  299. 

Witness.    Israel's  office,  p.  47,  54. 

Zend  Avesta,  referred  to,  p.  80. 
Zlon.  Out  of  her  the  law,  p.  420. 
Zoroaster  referred  to,  p.  80. 


6^ 
7'